The Grotto of San Cleto

In the hypogeum of the church of the Purgatory in Ruvo there’s a Roman cistern, commonly known as the grotto of San Cleto.
The structure consists of a rectangular chamber covered by a barrel vault resting on brick walls, reinforced at irregular intervals by two transverse arches which divide the chamber into three bays. The Roman technique is recognizable in the wall structures, the cladding and the concurrent use of the opus testaceum, opus reticulam, opus caementicium and signinum. The curtain wall of the chamber is built with an irregular course of baked bricks of the same length, layered with mortar, used for their ability to absorb moisture. A layer of raw opus signinum, made of mortar and small fragments of tiles, protects the brick curtain, enhancing its waterproofing capacity.
The vault is covered with a protective layer made of very small fragments of stone and tuff mixed with lime and sand; such a layer covers also the lower part of the pillars. The opus signinum protects the brick curtain wall from humidity, as well as the shell-shaped connecting elements between the walls and the floor, utilized in order to avoid the formation of impurities around the edges of the chamber.

Largo San Cleto

Ruvo di Puglia

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