Castillo-palacio de La Calahorra, Granada: influencia de los factores climáticos y arquitectónicos en el deterioro diferencial de sus fábricas pétreas

Abstract

The castle-palace of La Calahorra is a historical building (s. XVI) with a dual-function. The exterior is a castle-fortress of late-medieval style, built with masonry and ashlar of a crystalline limestone of great hardness and strength. The interior is a Renaissance palace, made with ashlar limestone micritic and dolomitic sandstone, both stone materials are porous, soft and little resistant. The entire building has an orange hue due to the patina of iron that stained their factories and that is a consequence of the action of the wind. There is a differential deterioration among its external and internal, depending on the type of stone used factories, the action of rain and wind and the construction defect detected. While the exterior stone is in good state of conservation, the interiors are important processes of deterioration, mainly the limestone micritic present in the ornamental and decorative areas of the central courtyard.