ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the differences between old and modern bricks so as the restorers to be able to describe better the specific bricks required for intervention. The comparison between the fast firing and traditional firing on the microstructure and mechanical properties or the study of chemical, physical and mechanical properties of handmade clay bricks are also significant contributions. Historic Masonry Structures built with fired bricks and mortars dominate for millenniums around Mediterranean basin and constitute a significant part of world cultural heritage. In the case of repairing castles, churches, baths and other monuments of Byzantine period there is often need of reconstruction of masonry members to reinstate the integrity of the complex. Having analyzed a great number of old bricks from Roman and Byzantine monuments, their characteristics were recorded and correlated by platting relationships among strength, apparent specific density and absorption.
