Page 30 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 30
stone narratives
Development of smoke exhaust through the chimney
The chimney, which conducted smoke up from the fireplace, caused big changes in the
dwelling culture (Keršič, 1990; Vilfan, 1970). The chimney also defined a special house
form in the south-western Slovenia, which was already a century ago identified by Matija
Murko (1962), Stanko Vurnik (1926; 1930), Anton Melik (1936; 1960), Rajko Ložar (1944),
Vilko Novak (1960), Sergij Vilfan (1970) and Irena Keršič (1990).
Built chimneys are said to have been introduced separately in multi-storey buildings
in European cities and castles already between the 10th and 12th century. They appeared on
a larger scale in wealthy dwellings in Italian cities between the 13th and 14th century, and
elsewhere in Europe from the 16th century onwards. According to researchers of architec-
ture and dwelling culture in castles, monasteries and houses of the Primorska region, built
chimneys are believed to have existed on the territory of today’s Slovenia from the 14th cen-
tury onwards, and on the wider Slovenian territory from the 16th century onwards (Baš,
1984, p. 17; Makarovič, 1986, p. 52). Although there is an unambiguous built cylindrical
chimney with a crown documented on the roof of the building in the Hrastovlje fresco
of Adam and Eve from 1490 (Makarovič, 1981, p. 53–54), we can, on the basis of pictorial
sources, confirm the supposition of Tone Cevc (1990, p. 63) and Gorazd Makarovič (1986,
pp. 53–54) that large-scale smoke exhaust through the chimney only began in the 17th cen-
tury. The introduction of the chimney is also documented in vedute (city views); chimneys
are visible on the buildings in the suburbs of Gorizia/Gorica in the mid-17th century graph-
ic of Caspar Merian (Pillon, 1995, p. 128) and on the drawings of the Gorizia priest Giovan-
ni Maria Marusig from 1681, published in his diary Relazione del Contagio di Gorizia in the
time of the outbreak of the plague in 1682 (Cergna, 2005). Chimneys are likewise drawn
on the graphic of the Vipava costume in Valvasor’s Slava vojvodine Kranjske (2010, p. 306),
and there are five of them drawn on the roof of the Lanthieri castle in Vipava in the sketch-
book in Topografija Kranjske (Valvasor, 1970). According to the vedute of Giannantonio
Capellaris from 1752,2 chimneys appeared also on roofs outside castle walls in the 18th cen-
tury (Marušič, 1978). We can therefore conclude that some peasant dwellings in the Vipa-
va Valley already had smoke exhaust regulated through the chimney in the mid-18th centu-
ry. Nevertheless, chimneys were not widely used until the 19th century, when they became
legally required in fire and construction regulations (Vilfan, 1970, pp. 586–587).
Chimneys were built above the ridge of the roof. They were mostly rectangular, fewer
were square, and only a few were circular (Ščukovt, 2007, p. 429). The only example of a cy-
lindrical chimney, the so-called Turkish chimney (turški raufnk) was documented in Ore-
hovica (Šarf, 1958b, p. 31). Older chimneys were robust and built of stone, while the newer
ones were built of brick. Brick chimneys first appeared in the Lower Vipava Valley, where
brickyards were established. In the brickyard of Bilje, special bricks were made for the con-
struction of chimneys (Nemec, 1997, p. 187). Fresh cowpats were sometimes mixed into the
mortar which was used for the construction of chimneys. Vents in the built part and on the
cap of the chimney were intended to increase the draught and conduct flue gases, especial-
ly in the case of low air pressure. Chimney caps or crowns protected the flue against ingress
of precipitation and the strong north-eastern burja wind. They came in different forms and
2 The originals are kept in the Regional Museum of Gorizia (in Italian: Musei Provinciali di Gorizia); the
reproductions were first published in Kronika (Marušič, 1978).
28
Development of smoke exhaust through the chimney
The chimney, which conducted smoke up from the fireplace, caused big changes in the
dwelling culture (Keršič, 1990; Vilfan, 1970). The chimney also defined a special house
form in the south-western Slovenia, which was already a century ago identified by Matija
Murko (1962), Stanko Vurnik (1926; 1930), Anton Melik (1936; 1960), Rajko Ložar (1944),
Vilko Novak (1960), Sergij Vilfan (1970) and Irena Keršič (1990).
Built chimneys are said to have been introduced separately in multi-storey buildings
in European cities and castles already between the 10th and 12th century. They appeared on
a larger scale in wealthy dwellings in Italian cities between the 13th and 14th century, and
elsewhere in Europe from the 16th century onwards. According to researchers of architec-
ture and dwelling culture in castles, monasteries and houses of the Primorska region, built
chimneys are believed to have existed on the territory of today’s Slovenia from the 14th cen-
tury onwards, and on the wider Slovenian territory from the 16th century onwards (Baš,
1984, p. 17; Makarovič, 1986, p. 52). Although there is an unambiguous built cylindrical
chimney with a crown documented on the roof of the building in the Hrastovlje fresco
of Adam and Eve from 1490 (Makarovič, 1981, p. 53–54), we can, on the basis of pictorial
sources, confirm the supposition of Tone Cevc (1990, p. 63) and Gorazd Makarovič (1986,
pp. 53–54) that large-scale smoke exhaust through the chimney only began in the 17th cen-
tury. The introduction of the chimney is also documented in vedute (city views); chimneys
are visible on the buildings in the suburbs of Gorizia/Gorica in the mid-17th century graph-
ic of Caspar Merian (Pillon, 1995, p. 128) and on the drawings of the Gorizia priest Giovan-
ni Maria Marusig from 1681, published in his diary Relazione del Contagio di Gorizia in the
time of the outbreak of the plague in 1682 (Cergna, 2005). Chimneys are likewise drawn
on the graphic of the Vipava costume in Valvasor’s Slava vojvodine Kranjske (2010, p. 306),
and there are five of them drawn on the roof of the Lanthieri castle in Vipava in the sketch-
book in Topografija Kranjske (Valvasor, 1970). According to the vedute of Giannantonio
Capellaris from 1752,2 chimneys appeared also on roofs outside castle walls in the 18th cen-
tury (Marušič, 1978). We can therefore conclude that some peasant dwellings in the Vipa-
va Valley already had smoke exhaust regulated through the chimney in the mid-18th centu-
ry. Nevertheless, chimneys were not widely used until the 19th century, when they became
legally required in fire and construction regulations (Vilfan, 1970, pp. 586–587).
Chimneys were built above the ridge of the roof. They were mostly rectangular, fewer
were square, and only a few were circular (Ščukovt, 2007, p. 429). The only example of a cy-
lindrical chimney, the so-called Turkish chimney (turški raufnk) was documented in Ore-
hovica (Šarf, 1958b, p. 31). Older chimneys were robust and built of stone, while the newer
ones were built of brick. Brick chimneys first appeared in the Lower Vipava Valley, where
brickyards were established. In the brickyard of Bilje, special bricks were made for the con-
struction of chimneys (Nemec, 1997, p. 187). Fresh cowpats were sometimes mixed into the
mortar which was used for the construction of chimneys. Vents in the built part and on the
cap of the chimney were intended to increase the draught and conduct flue gases, especial-
ly in the case of low air pressure. Chimney caps or crowns protected the flue against ingress
of precipitation and the strong north-eastern burja wind. They came in different forms and
2 The originals are kept in the Regional Museum of Gorizia (in Italian: Musei Provinciali di Gorizia); the
reproductions were first published in Kronika (Marušič, 1978).
28
