THE FUTURE OF THE PAST AT GOREME IN TURKEY

The structural conservation project at the Göreme circus, with its rock-hewn churches, is a program for safeguarding this area in Cappadocia. The aim of this paper is to inquire into the causes of observed degradation and define a general plan of intervention which associates processes controlling the development of the phenomena with appropriate repair technologies facilitating treatment of the most urgent cases of damage. The first problem noted is clearly erosion. To natural erosion must be added the effects of localized erosion resulting from increasing tourism on the site. The second difficulty is to be seen in fissuring and fracturing in the soft rock, a volcanic tuff. Treatment of fissures in domes involves complete covering of the rock. Also, it must be noted that low-pressure injection grouting with a product suitable for the fissures would assure water-tightness of the monument and restore to the massif its monolithic stability. © 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.