Bendery, February 5. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Italian company Berlucchi Studio, which completed a technical study of the Bendery Fortress, presented the examination results. According to the results of the analysis, it is planned to begin the historical complex reconstruction in late April 2020.
Experts have developed a computer three-dimensional model of the fortress with an accuracy of several millimeters. In the future, this model will help to measure any element of the fortress.
“The modeling process took about two months. This is a huge computer model that shows what soil the structure stands on or what is the walls texture. This is a kind of computed tomography of the fortress. Such a model is very realistic. You can see what is happening there at any place in a cross section,” one of the participants in the research group, historian and engineer Nicolo Berlucci said.
Geophysical analysis of the soil under the fortress is another innovative method used by Italians. This is a vertical section of soil layers that are marked in different colors on a computer model. Each color gives certain information regarding the degree of moisture, hardness, and compaction of the soil. You can also determine the depth of the foundation.
The experts also made holes to check the depth of the foundation. There were found some artifacts in the course of these works. Among them are shoe pads (late XVI - early XVII centuries), a fragment of a glass jar for medicines, fragments of tiles from the roof of the tower, a coin of Stefan Batory, dated 1582 (this is the earliest coin found in the territory of Bendery), and others. All discoveries will be exhibits of the Bendery Fortress Museum.
Donatella Fiorani, a professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, who also participated in the examination of the fortress, said that 26 different types of construction work had been used in the construction and reconstruction of the walls.
The ground-penetrating radar used in the research process showed that there were large wooden beams in the walls of the fortress that had been built during the Ottoman Empire. In the XVI century, they were added to the structure to strengthen the walls. But over time, the wood decomposed, and today a dangerous void has formed there. The analysis revealed the problem areas of the walls where there are deep cracks.
As for the question that many were interested in, if there are underground passages under the fortress, Nicolo Berlucci said that there was definitely at least one tunnel. According to researchers, that is the drainage channel of the fortress.
Researchers have developed recommendations for the reconstruction of major problem areas. This spring, the expert group plans to return to Bendery to continue work on the fortress restoration.
The work is carried out at the expense of the UN development program for the preservation of cultural and historical heritage. The Bendery Fortress complex is one of the priority objects for the program. For this purpose, there was allocated about 2 million euros by the European Union.
