ABSTRACT
The masonry is considered by Vitruvius as the first man-made attempt to have a shelter against weather. The differences between ancient and modern Milanese masonries are described pointing out some examples of Romanesque buildings. These masonries were made using different kinds of stone starting from the pebbles (gneiss, Ghiandone, serpentinite) carried by the glaciers along the Alpine valleys to the hills of the Prealps, to the perfectly worked ashlars made of quarried sedimentary rocks. The greater part of Milan masonries was made of brick, the main building material used throughout the Pianura Padana, a plain where stones are lacking and the clay to make brick is easily available in the alluvial deposits. The mortar joints were also considered: the wide joints of pebble masonry or the very thin ones of ashlar masonry.
