Indoor Microclimate Analysis of the San Panfilo Church in Tornimparte, Italy

Abstract

This work presents the results of a microclimatic analysis in the church of San Panfilo in Tornimparte, in the Abruzzo region, Italy. The church of San Panfilo, dating from the XII–XIII century, preserves in the presbytery some marvelous frescoes of Saturnino Gatti (1494). A measurement campaign was organized from February 2021 to April 2022 with the aim of investigating the microclimate inside the church in view of the organization of fresco restoration. The monitoring activity was performed with intensive measurements on specific days during the year and with continuous measurements throughout the whole year. The main microclimatic parameters, relative humidity and temperature, were monitored in various sites inside and outside the church. Some physical quantities, such as dew point temperature, dew point spread and specific humidity, were computed from measured data. Measured and computed data permitted to evaluate the daily and monthly values, their evolution during the year, the daily fluctuations and delay times caused by the building. The resulting discussion allowed to identify potentially dangerous events for the conservation of the frescoes. Moreover, the historic climate inside the church was detected.

Keywords

• microclimate
• cultural heritage conservation
• historic church
• indoor environmental monitoring