Developments in Ceramic Materials Research

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Dimitris Skarlatos, Tilemachos Zakinthinos and Ioanis Koumanoudis
collection of rain water), or for other purposes, such as the drawing out of smoke and the
ventilation of fires, water pipes, under-burners, in fireplaces, etc [20].
The appearance of walled-in “structural vases” draws its origin from the Lombards or
Campanians and then from the Romans [21]. It was later adopted by the Byzantines and went
on to be applied during and after the Middle Ages (figure 2b) [22]. It is not an exaggeration to
mention that the use of concave structural elements continued much later during the age of
concrete. In France, for instance, the concrete dome of the market of Vallées á la Carenne-
Colombes includes concave structural pipes, as in other modern structures (figure 2c) [23].
The second group of walled-in vases, the acoustic vases or sound vases, are coupled
acoustically with the interior of the church through an opening. Sometimes this opening is not
easily observed since it was covered with mortar during restoration work [1, 5, 10].
Architectural history tells us of the spreading of ceramic vases from the early Byzantine
techniques (only on the niche domes of the sanctuary of Early Christian Basilicas with
wooden roofs) and then in a multitude of dispersed temple dome roofs of this period, as in
Ravenna of Italy (e.g. Ursiana Basilica, St. Vitali church, Neognano Baptismal, [24 - 26] with
spherical domes built with tube-like vases), in Constantinople (e.g. the church of Saint Sofia
and Saints Sergio and Bacchus, the Magganians’ Palace, 8 th century A.D., etc.[27], domes
with tube-like and pot-like vases) and also in Greece (e.g. Scripou, 9 th century, Saint Lucas in
Steiri, 11 th century, Agioi Asomatoi Theseion, 11 th century [28], Parigoritissa Artas, 13 th
century [29], Afentiko Mystra, 14 th century [29], and Porta Panagia Artas, with inert material
masses along with pot-like vases). At this point, it is necessary to mention that ceramic vases
have also been found in Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Chaldea, and even in India [21, 30]. After the
Renaissance, walled-in vases were found in walls and domes in many European countries
such as: France (e.g. in Palais de Justice, Palais Royal, Bource, Madlein and a multitude of
other buildings of the 18 th century), in England (e.g. in the Dover House, the London Stock
Market, 18 th century, and in St. George’s Hall of Liverpool, 19 th century), in Russia (e.g.
Saint Sophia of Kiev, Moscow’s Kremlin, etc.) and finally in Spain and Cyprus [31, 32].
a b c
Figure 2. Structural vases found in Ravena St Vistule (a) in Constantinople (b) and in the market of
Vallées á la Carenne-Colombes (c).