NON-DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION ON HERITAGE BUILDINGS - CASE STUDY ON ST. NIKITA CHURCH

<p>Historic buildings are a significant part of the world’s cultural heritage. These buildings act like a bridge that connects us to the certain time, people and culture, providing invaluable insight into our past.</p> <p>The long-term exposure to different natural, biological and human factors increase the vulnerability of the heritage buildings, therefore their condition needs to be carefully considered and monitored.  Knowing the condition will significantly contribute to their long-term protection; underestimating the actual condition may lead to pointless interventions and overestimating it may lead to no interventions and further damage. </p> <p>This paper presents the investigation campaign carried out to one heritage building – the Byzantine church of St. Nikita near Skopje, North Macedonia. The methodology involved archival research, review of the monument’s documentation and in-situ investigation using several Non-Destructive Techniques (NDTs): visual inspections, microscopy, infrared thermography, 3D laser scanning and ambient vibration tests. This integrated methodology provided information for both, historical context and current condition of the building. NDTs proved to be a useful diagnostic tool for condition assessment of the monument without affecting its authenticity, which is especially important for this type of buildings.</p>