Santa Maria Nuova a Viterbo. Nuove chiavi di lettura della chiesa alla luce del restauro della copertura

During the restoration of the roof of the church Santa Maria Nuova in Viterbo, the possibility to perform a in-deep investigation occurred. The team of wood Technologists, joining Universities of Viterbo (DAFNE) and Florence (GESAAF), had the possibility to study and to perform some interesting analysis on wood, on decoration and on all the characteristics considered interesting from the historical point of view. The first church building dates back to 1080, however the historical information on the roof dates back to the XV century. The church consists of a nave and two aisles. The roof of the nave is formed by 9 traditional timber trusses (king post trusses) made up of chestnut wood (Castanea sativa Mill.). The volume represent principally the results of the works performed by the wood technology team, concerning the scientific investigation of wood and on timber elements (in situ inspection, dating, NDT, strength properties, visual strength grading, etc.).