Weathering and preservation of building stones and other materials: Stone masonry material of a medieval monastic glass production centre, Pomáz (Hungary)

A ruined medieval monastic glass production centre (church, workshop buildings) is located in Central North Hungary a few kilometres North of Budapest. The recent archaeological excavations exposed the walls of the church of the monastic estate and also found a large complex providing evidence for the workshop buildings. This site has a primary importance since it is one of the best preserved glass making facilities in Central Europe, in Hungary. The present paper provides a brief overview of the history and development of the building, the construction activities by using computer aided reconstruction of the walls and masonry structures. It also outlines the most important stone types and binders of the walls. The masonry is composed of various lithologies. Cut blocks of andesite tuffs and rounded cobbles of andesite from a significant part of the masonry walls. Sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and a few blocks of travertine ware also identified. The historic binder, a lime-based mortar was also identified in the structure. This site represents a unique religious and industrial heritage structure in Europe that was constructed by medieval methods by using local stones.