Panel 8 - Building the city
In this panel we can learn about the construction processes of buildings in the Visigothic period, the tools they used and how construction was carried out.
1. Masonry and Rammed Earth
Most structures in Reccopolis, except the most monumental buildings, were erected using masonry and rammed earth techniques. The masonry, employed for plinths, consisted of irregular stone alignments bonded with lime or clayey mortar. Atop this foundation, walls were constructed using the tapial method – successively building wooden formworks and filling them with compacted, rammed clay. As a final step, both the masonry plinth and the rammed earth wall were coated with a lime plaster.
2. Roofs and Pavements
The roofs, typically gabled, featured a triangular timber frame of beams supporting a wooden surface upon which curved tiles of varying sizes, depending on the building, were laid.
Of the three paving types documented in Reccopolis, the most common, found in dwellings and most commercial buildings, was clay mixed with lime and tamped onto a gravel layer.
Less frequent was sandstone slab paving, present in certain palace areas, entryways to commercial buildings, and the cistern.
The most luxurious was the so-called “opus signinum” – a finely finished Roman concrete utilized in the city’s most emblematic structures.
3. Quarries and Stonemasons
Stone was used in the construction of all Reccopolis buildings, with sandstone being the most prevalent, though the lighter and more easily carved calcareous tuff was also employed.
Extraction took place in quarries that exploited natural outcrops, operating on tiered levels. The size of the blocks was determined in the quarry itself, outlined by grooves carved into the rock face. Once extracted, the blocks were squared and given their final shape.
This entire process unfolded within the same quarry, producing the finished ashlars destined for the city’s various buildings. The stonemasons utilized techniques and tools inherited from Roman masonry traditions, forming a specialized workforce.
4. Ashlars
The finished ashlars from the quarry were transported to the city for the construction of its most important edifices.
