South Gable of the Cathedral of Leon: current construction pathology produced by the use of sulphur in the caulking of staples and billets during the restoration works in the nineteenth century

Abstract

During the restorations carried out in the nineteenth century in the cathedral of Leon, the architect-restorers Juan de Madrazo and Demetrio de los Rios proposed in their projects the use of liquid sulphur to caulk iron or bronze staples, or billets that linked edge elements and solids from the masonry. This solution, not previously used, has produced important construction pathology in the south gable today: cracks in a large number of blocks and partial detachment of them. Some of these detachments have been falling to the court of the temple with the risk to cause harm to people and things. It is worth to point out that this unpublished work has a great importance because, according to the content of the projects of both architects, this practice spread to more parts of the monument, so this localized pathology is expected to manifest itself in other areas with the consequent risk.