THE LATRINE
ITA
ENG
During the restoration, a discontinuity in the masonry on the second floor facing north-west, near the north-east corner, similar to a plugged window, was identified. When it was emptied from the filling, it was realised that it was not a boarded-up window, but a niche with a square-section drain in the façade, also constructed, like all the architectural details of the Malavilla, during the construction phase of the fortified house. The bottom of the niche, also visible from the outside, was made of blocks of travertine, a sedimentary stone found in the gullies of Monte Sporno, in the presence of the petrifying springs, rocky outcrops formed by water-borne limestone. This stone was used locally as a substitute for sandstone to make elements that required lightness and easy workability (they could be modelled with a wood saw) in order to obtain, with less effort, very regular shapes, such as ashlars for loggia arches or window shoulders. In the Malavilla there are other elements made of this material such as the vault of the first floor window facing north-east, or the central longitudinal band of the vault. In other buildings, such as the Rocca di Valle di Castrignano, it has been possible to find partition walls composed of wooden uprights attached to the load-bearing beams and infill in travertine blocks.
This technology has been widespread since the Middle Ages in France in the so-called “half-timbered houses” or “maison a colombages” in which the wooden structure is left exposed on the façade.
The latrine seat is completed by a wooden axe, parts of which are still present after the fire that the house is said to have suffered during the 20th century.