Built to last the test of time...
If you look closely at older buildings in Italy, many times you will see these bars stuck to the sides (at various angles).
I asked our friend Rudolfo (who was restoring the city theater in
Spoleto) what was the purpose of these bars. He explained that older
buildings were constructed before the use of reinforced concrete (or
concrete reinforced by steel bars). When an older building is restored,
they drill a hole from one side of the building to the other (where the wall and floor meet) and
then insert a steel bar. The bar is then anchored on each side of the building with
these visible cross bars. This process shores up the points in the building which are most at
risk of structural failure (e.g., during an earthquake).For important historical buildings, they go one step further by drilling down in the ground 30 meters (approx. 100 feet) at various angles and inserting bars that are then anchored to the exterior foundation of the building. This keeps the building moving as a solid piece in the event of an earthquake.
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