The conservation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the preliminary restoration project of the decorated surfaces

Abstract

Abstract The studies developed by the team of the School of Specialization in Architectural Heritage and Landscape of “Sapienza” University of Rome, that initially concerned the entire Basilica to be then focused on the main nave, on the aisles, on the transept and bema. At the architectural scale, the investigations concerning mosaics, mural paintings and coloring are aimed to the comprehension of the complicated relation between the single analyzed part and the architectural complex. The “reading” of the current state of the Basilica, i.e. the historical events that made it as we can see today, is the starting point for the necessary critical considerations to start the restoration project.