Abstract:
Carob warehouses in the rural areas of Cyprus constitute one of the
rare examples of traditional industrial building types that are
evidence of a vanishing tradition of agricultural, social and
economic life. These warehouses were built in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, and used as part of the carob
production and export industry that showed a drastic decline after
1960 and virtually vanished in the following decade, resulting in the
dereliction of the warehouses. Today, very few of them are in good
condition, some have disappeared, and many are left with major
structural damage or have been partially destroyed. In order to
contribute to their protection and to add to the existing literature
on industrial buildings in rural areas, the present work aims to
examine the architectural and structural characteristics of rural
carob warehouses in Cyprus. The assessments are based on a
model formed through observations noted during the field survey
in the northern section of the island where 15 carob warehouses
are located mainly on the coast. The model of architectural and
structural features of the warehouses includes the recording of
alterations, material deterioration and structural damage. The
study concludes with an overall approach for the restoration and
consolidation of the warehouses employing techniques that
follow the principles of international charters. Suggestions are
given for promoting the potential of these heritage assets and
enabling assessment of their general reuse potentials. It is found
that among the 15 existing warehouses three of them have
already been restored and the other 12 require restoration.
