The fundamental principle behind toichology is observation. We can look for consistency in order to determine which portions of a building were constructed at the same time, or we can look for anomalies in order to find breaks in construction and changes in design concept. Usually, common sense will allow us to determine which portions of a building came before or after others, and this in turn allows us to develop a relative chronology. Further study of details and carving styles allows us to narrow the dating of those portions, and in the end we should be able to arrive at a convincing chronology of construction for any given building. On this page we present initial observations and speculate about the likely implications for chronology.

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Project A - General General Position The surviving building extends from the southwest corner of the 13th-century cloister. The building looks like a single continuous structure, but on the interior it is divided into two distinct halves. Implications

Project A - General General Position A drawing dated 1669 shows the two halves of the building (left) and the fact that it does not align with the later refectory (center). Implications

Project A - General General Position A plan, probably made about the same time (1669), shows the misalignment between refectory and Le Galata Implications