Earthen architecture in Southeastern Europe: Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Malta

The region of the Eastern Mediterranean, Italy, Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, reveals a richness of two main forms of earthen architecture. Both are related to the ancient building culture of the Middle East, the masonry (mud brick and rammed earth) and the half-timber and masonry (earthen, stone and brick) traditions. Earth was one of the main building materials used from ancient up until recent times in order to solve the main architectural problems and to produce mortars, pavements, coatings and so on. Knowledge of the earthen architectural heritage of the region is not homogenous, besides the sub-region of Sardinia, Italy, where we can find the highest levels of identification and characterization of earthen architecture as a living heritage, or Cyprus where groups of architects are providing care to the traditional building culture, in other regions such as Bulgaria and Greece the process of rediscovery and revaluation has only started in recent years.