ABSTRACT
A large part of our historical heritage involves immovable properties which in most cases are badly deteriorating; so far, however, not all the factors responsible for the damages have been identified yet. This leads us to implement a range of measures-most often palliative measures only- which may help to foster historical studies at all levels as well as highlight and exhibit our heritage for our own use and enjoyment. Under these circumstances it becomes a priority to redefine future historical research from a broader perspective in order to address other important issues related to the preservation and survival of our heritage. The aim of this paper is to devise a working methodology which allows us to preserve our heritage in the best possible conditions by developing a master plan of actions which complement those taken on the immovable heritage in the field of archaeology. For this we need to resort to a combined system consisting of three different kinds of actions: (a) going through the relevant written sources and archaeological actions on the site where the study is being conducted; (b) analyzing and characterizing the building materials; (c) studying the local environmental conditions.
