Integrated investigations for diagnosis and restoration of an hypogean mill

The production of oil in the “Terra d'Otranto” (the current provinces of LE, BR, TA) has accounted for about four centuries, the main economic resource in the province. It happened in “places” known as the presses that have constructive peculiarities, as they derived entirely within the bedrock calcarenitic like “Lecce stone”, “tuff” or “carparo.” They were very popular in the three provinces and are present both in urban centres and on the farms.

These places, vivid and direct testimony of the rural civilisation, are now at the centre of an extensive work of restoration and enhancement. Given the cultural heritage industry in all respects, the “oil mills” are inserted into the channels of the national roads Olive Oil, Olive Oil Roads named n° 6 and n° 7 (Adriatic and Ionian Antica Terra d'Otranto).

As with all industrial archaeological heritage, even for the underground presses, the best solution is a conservative reuse. New functions, in this case, are meant to recover the fine in its historical identity as a cultural centre to activate it as a place or be inserted into a circuit in which the museum faithfully reconstructs the ancient “art” of unique production processes. Here, we present the work carried out for the recovery, conservation and enhancement of the underground oil mill located in the centre of Maglie (LE).

Right from the initial design stage, there was a close relationship between designers, researchers for diagnostics and the representatives of the City of Maglie. After a detailed knowledge of historical material and construction of the hypogeal phenomenon, both a laser scanner and the non-invasive diagnosis by geophysical surveys were performed.