20 21st International Conference ENGINEERING MECHANICS 2015 Svratka, Czech Republic, May 11 –14, 2015 Paper #105, pp. 20–21 Stone in Historical Architecture in Slovakia Martin Bednarika*, Rudolf Holzer, Rudolf Tornyai Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Dept. of Engineering Geology, Mlynská dolina; 842 15, Bratislava; SK
[email protected] Keywords: Leitha limestone, travertine, volcanites, physical and mechanical properties Abstract: Most of the historical monuments and buildings in Slovakia are built of natural, generous stone. The use of natural rock material in the area of the Western Carpathians is always bound on specifics of the regional - geological development of Slovakia. Different rock formation conditions and subsequent geological evolution caused considerable regional differentiation of rock masses. Major faulting of rocks during the folded-fault tectonics caused rather poor deposits on building and decorative stone in Slovakia. The rock masses of Western Carpathians provide stones which are of different natural and technical characteristics and different manner of utilization. Introduction The aim of this paper is to give an overview of most used rocks with the examples of their application on historical monuments of Slovakia. Another part of the contribution is to demonstrate petrophysical and material-technical characteristics of selected types of mentioned rocks. Rocks used in various forms of building and decoration stone can be divided into 5 basic groups: A. Consolidated clastic (granular) sediments – sandstone, conglomerate, breccia, quartzite, arkose, graywacke. B. Carbonate rocks - travertine, limestone, marble. C. Effusive volcanic rocks – rhyolite, andesite, basalt, quartz porphyre, melaphyre, diabase and their tuffs. D. Intrusive rocks - granites, granodiorites, diorites, syenites, gabbros.