Material analysis for restoration application: a case study of the world’s first university Mor Yakup Church in Nusaybin, Mardin

Abstract

The Mor Yakup Church, located in the Nusaybin District of Mardin, is known as the world’s frst educational university in history and represents one of the oldest Christian medieval monuments. In this study, it is aimed to determine the factors of the strength problems of the structure by investigating the characterization of building materials and what kind of factors afect the material behavior with various observational and experimental methods. It was determined that the main deterioration types in the materials of the building were erosion, fractures, loss of parts and the dissolve of the joint mortars between the masonry work on the facades. Since the materials used in the construction of the building are unable in terms of physico-mechanics, it has been determined that the severe continental climate conditions prevailing in the region easily cause such physical deterioration on the construction materials. In addition, the presence of clays in the conventional mortar used in the building has been defned as an internal problem that causes the material to get tired with the osmotic pressure it creates by absorbing water. A very high rate of salinization was detected in the building materials of the building and it was observed that this salting was caused by the acid efect caused by air pollution and the portland cement used in the previous repairs in the building. Finally, this study presents restoration recommendations to repair the material deterioration in the building and to prevent its occurrence in the future.