Study the conservation state of the façade of the Basilica of Santa Croce (Lecce- Italy) using ground-penetrating radar

The basilica of Santa Croce in Lecce is a baroque church internationally well known; the starting point for this research was the evidence that some structures of the façade are more damaged and present signs of subsidence. The possible causes of damages can be: i) buried structures or subsurface anomalies; ii) not suitable microclimatic conditions; iii) deposition of pollutants. In order to study the first cause of damage geophysical survey, using groundpenetrating radar (GPR) was performed. This allow to obtain information on buried structures or to locate and identify anomalies related to a restoration intervention carried out in the 80s.