GeoKarst - the dry-stone walls and hiške (dry-stone houses)

On the 25^th September at 9am, we will depart on an excursion, during which we will talk about Karst, walls made with the traditional dry construction technique and Karst stone-houses (hiške), with Vojko Ražem. The introduction to traditional Karst attractions and techniques will be held by Diego Masiello.

We will depart from the Natural Science Didactic Center at Basovizza (CDN - Basovizza 224 – Trieste).

Participants will have the opportunity to see a model of a Karst shepherd’s hut – hiška and a wall made with the dry construction technique, using limestone from Karst, both created by Vojko, at the Natural Sience Didactic Center in Bazovica. The excursion will then continue with a tour of some of the “hiške” that were renovated and built by Ražem himself (estimated duration is 3 hours).

The number of participants is limited. In case of bad weather, the excursion will be carried out on a different date.

In the old days, this stone-huts were used as a shelter for all shepherds and farmers working in Karst, far away from home: they were used as a place to rest during work or as a shelter in case of bad weather. Today, they are mainly used as storage for tools.

Karst houses are very simple buildings, whereas we can still notice a special structure of the pseudo-dome and the monolithic architrave which is the entrance of the hut.

The dry stone construction technique foresees the use of Karst stone in different sizes; larger stones with flatter surfaces were used at the bottom and then progressively smaller and smaller ones towards the top. Small cracks inbetween larger stones were filled with rubble. These were mainly used in the construction of the upper part of the hut.

Link: http://eventi.regione.fvg.it/Eventi/dettaglioEvento.asp?evento=19722