bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Il pentagono come strumento per il disegno delle fortezze
Authors: Magnaghi-Delfino Paola , Mele Giampiero , Norando Tullia
Published: May 2020

The pentagon as a tool for fortresses’ drawingStarting from the fifteenth century, the diagram of many fortresses has a pentagonal shape. Among the best known fortresses, in Italy we find the Fortezza da Basso of Florence, the Cittadella of Parma, the Cittadella  of Turin,  Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome. The aim of this article is to analyze the reasons that link form and geometry to the planning of the design and the layout of pentagonal fortresses. The pentagon is a polygon tied to the golden section and to the Fibonacci sequence and it is possible to construct it starting from the golden triangle and its gnomon. This construction of the pentagon is already found in the book De Divina Proportione by Luca Pacioli and is particularly convenient for planning pentagonal fortresses. If one wants to draw the first approximated golden triangle, one can just consider the numbers of the Fibonacci sequence, for example 5 and 8, which establish the relationship between the sides: 5 units is the length of the base and 8 units the length of the equal sides. In the second isosceles triangle, which is the gnomon of the first, the base is 8 units long and equal sides are 5 units long; half of this isosceles triangle is the Pythagorean triangle (3, 4, 5). This characteristic of the golden triangles, that was already known by the Pythagoreans and, in a certain sense, contained in the symbol of their School, allows to build a pentagon with only the use of the ruler and the set square. The distinctive trait of the construction just described makes preferable to use the pentagon in the layout of the military architectures in the fieldworks. We have verified the relationship between numbers, shape and size in the layout of Castel Sant’Angelo (1555-1559) in which the approximate pentagon was the instrument for the generation of its form.
Piani di fortificazione in Calabria Ultra tra XVI e XVII secolo
Authors: Martorano Francesca
Published: May 2020

Fortification plans in Calabria Ultra between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesThe Crown of Spain acquired, as it is known, the kingdom of Naples in 1504, which as Viceregno it will be part of the Spanish empire for more than two centuries. The empire between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was faced with various challenges, both internal and boundary, particularly maritime, attacked by the Ottoman expansion. Urban and coastal fortification plans were prepared and put in place to defend the territory. Calabria was also a participant in this effort, which the Viceroys directed and followed from Naples, with the approval of Madrid. This study examines the projects and achievements implemented in the chronological period under consideration in Calabria Ultra, current provinces of Reggio Calabria, Vibo Valentia, Catanzaro and Crotone. Particular attention is paid to coastal defense plans with the design of new towers, which combined with city walls and/or castles in state-owned or feudal cities, complement the defensive projects of the coasts.  It is important to highlight how the types adopted are consistent with coherent implementations implemented in the extended territory of the empire, thus declaring widespread knowledge and cultural identity in the Europe of the time.
Torri, corsari e contrabbandieri in Calabria Ultra durante il Decennio Francese (1806-1815)
Authors: Cataldo Vincenzo
Published: May 2020

Towers, corsairs and smugglers in Calabria Ultra during the French Decade (1806-1815)At the beginning of the nineteenth century, even if the phenomenon of running war had subsided, the watch towers still had an active role in controlling the coasts of Southern Italy. Under the French administration some of them were assigned to customs posts, others continued to report the corsair boats always ready to carry out incursive actions. Merchant ships, fishermen and peasants were still struck by the devastating Turkish-Barbarian cruises, but also by corsairs armed by the British in an eternal struggle against the French. The towers are regularly guarded by sentinels armed with non-military weapons, which are not functional to the increasingly sophisticated assaults of the Corsair marines. The people in charge of the customs had to manage a staff often absent from the guardhouse due to malarial fevers, especially during the summer when the coasts were excessively hot. The customs documentation shows the economy of a Southern Italy still rooted in the classic export products: oil, dried figs, cotton, cheese, wine and coarse wool cloths. Raw silk is absent from the market, one of the most exported products until the second half of the eighteenth century and supplanted by the olive tree.
El castillo de Mula (1520-2020). Historia de la construcción de una fortaleza renacentista
Authors: Zapata Parra José Antonio
Published: May 2020

The castle of Mula (1520-2020). History of the construction of a Renaissance fortressFive hundred years after the construction of the castle of Mula, which was ordered to build the I Marqués de los Vélez, Pedro Fajardo Chacón, as a result of his expulsion from the town during the communal uprisings of the kingdom of Murcia. The fortress, a work of masonry, built on the old Andalusian citadel, has a novel construction in the southeast of the peninsular from the point of view of the multi-aesthetic. The conservation of documentation related to its construction between 1520 and 1531, allows us to approach the work of the stonecutters and master gunners.
Castelli e borghi fortificati nell’Appennino centrale d’Italia. Storia e conservazione
Authors: Serafini Lucia
Published: May 2020

Castles and fortified villages in the central Apennines of Italy. History and conservationThe areas of the central Apennines of Italy constitute a particularly interesting research laboratory with its perched towns and its castles. Here there is a close link between the quantity of fortifications and the prevailing mountainous terrain. This has fixed in the history of the places a condition of correspondence that acts as a counterpoint to all its culture, from the economy to the costumes to the forms of the settlement. The inhabited centers also managed to guard the territory, like the numerous castles built during the Middle Ages close to rocky and harsh slopes. This because they are located in places that due to the altitude were naturally fortified, but which at supplement were enhanced with closed and compact building fabrics.  The fortified villages have often elicited, with their walled houses and the steep and narrow streets, the representations of travelers-artists from the nineteenth century like the Dutchman Maurits Cornelis Escher. The purpose of this contribution is to draw attention to the reality of an architectural heritage that goes beyond the isolated episode of the feudal castle to create a network with natural and anthropic contexts of wider horizon. These are today subject to severe loss of identity due to the marginal position they often find themselves in and also to the action of the many earthquakes that have raged over time.
La fortezza e il suo giardino: uno sguardo dal mare
Authors: Zunno Antonio
Published: May 2020

The fortress and its garden: a view from the seaThe Fortress was built from 1554, on the ruins of an ancient convent, at the behest of Philip of Austria, and it was completed in about 55 years under the direction of Giulio Cesare Falco, knight of the Order of Malta and Captain General against the Turks. The maine structure, called Forte a Mare, was joined with the Opera a Corno, a mighty rampart with the function of enclosure of the intermediate island, separated from the other island in 1598 by the construction of the Angevin canal: here were arranged the lodgings of the troops and garrisons. Castello and Forte, were named by the Spaniards Isla Fortalera que abre el Puerto Grande, because of its particular position to protect the port. The complex was entrusted to the Germans in 1715, then conquered by the French Revolutionaries and, in 1815, re-annexed to the Kingdom of Naples and destined to lazaretto. A period of decline follows until the end of the 19th century when Brindisi became a first class naval base and the fort became a garrison of the Royal Navy, destined, during the Great War, to recover torpedoes and detonators The recovery of the complex, starting in the 1980s, allowed the conservation of the structures but was never included in a real valorisation program. With this intervention in progress, a first visit is expected through the visit from the walkways through a circular route from the Castle to the whole Opera in Corno: the itinerary will allow you to retrace the history of the Fortress and enjoy a unique view from the high towards the sea, also through the passage in a curtain of Mediterranean scrub that has colonized the walls over the centuries, creating a veritable hanging garden on the sea. The aim is to lead the visitor to the rediscovery a forgotten place that is closely connected to the coastal landscape, for which it is a privileged point of view also in relation to the city and the port.
Les abords de la citadelle d’Alger au XIXème siècle
Authors: Chergui Samia , Haddad Dehbia
Published: May 2020

The surroundings of the Algiers’s citadel in the nineteenth centuryThe major works undertaken between 1817 and 1830 transformed the citadel of Algiers into a most important place of sovereignty and power, boasting different administrative, economic and religious centres. However, today, the physiognomy of the surroundings of this palace-fortress is marked by the upheaval of the French colonial period between 1830 and 1870. The creation of the Boulevard de la Victoire and the demolition, for security reasons, of the surrounding buildings, definitively altered the landscape and urban typology of the Ottoman period. This article examines the urban fabric of the ancient surroundings of the Citadel and their transformation during the nineteenth century. It traces back the development of the surroundings, and explains the reasons behind their demolition. The study tries also to give an assessment of the principle characteristics of the architectural components within their urban fabric.
Da fortezza a residenza castellana: osservazioni stratigrafiche per la comprensione del processo trasformativo della Rocca di Novellara (RE, Italia)
Authors: Squassina Angela
Published: May 2020

From a fortress to a residential castle: a stratigraphic reading of the transformations in the Rocca of Novellara (RE, Italy)The paper reports the results of a stratigraphic reading on the northern façade of the Rocca di Novellara (Reggio Emilia, Italy), a castle which is now the town hall, right in the city centre. Though as a pole of the contemporary public life in Novellara, housing at present both a museum and a nineteenth century theatre, the Rocca recalls its military past through its name and by means of the still standing remains of the walls and corner towers. Besides a well-documented historical development, the stratigraphic investigation of the northern façade –the only part that still hasn’t been restored– allowed a direct observation of the material traces revealing the slow transformation of the Rocca from a fortification to a residential castle. This study gave the chance of understanding the different constructive phases of the castle, making a chronological sequence out of them but it was also meant to reflect about the changes of its character, as the building has been acquiring a complex identity through time, due both to high qualified architectural episodes and to as much meaningful though tiny changes. Thus, the permanence of the stratified marks can be regarded as one of the main goals of a preservation project.
Traces of a fortified hamlet. Iconography and urban development of San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore
Authors: Cecamore Stefano
Published: May 2020

The paper proposes a reading of the possible urban development of the historic centre of San Valentino in Abruzzo Citerore starting from the analysis of its architectural heritage. The image of a fortified hamlet surrounded by walls, represented in a painting dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, appears in cartographic reliefs and representations accessible at the local and extra regional archives. The reading of the current architectural set of givens, which are characterized by the continuous use of building techniques related to the processing of local limestones, seeks through comparison with the historic iconography to identify persistences and alterations of the urban fabric, tracing a possible developmental line of San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore from medieval castrum to Farnesiano fief up to the substantial interventions of modernization and revision of the historic center operated in the last century. The requests of functional and formal changes occurring at the turn of the nineteenth and twenteeth century implicates the dismantling of the walls, the typological change of the original building and of the urban layout and the loss of the urban imagine resulting consolidated in the collective memory. An awaking context of the main features of the historic and building development of this fortified reality in the Middle Adriatic area is today an indispensable step in this path of consciousness and awareness of the society regarding the urgent problem connected to the neglect and to the conservation of the historic centres.
Il digitale e la rappresentazione: la seconda linea e il castello dimenticato di Fiumedinisi
Authors: Di Gregorio Giuseppe
Published: May 2020

Digital and representation: the second line and the forgotten castle of FiumedinisiThe Belvedere Castle of Fiumedinisi (ME) belongs to that historical heritage of Sicily characterized by abandoned and forgotten military architecture. Along the Ionian coast the defensive problem has been particularly felt over time, due to the proximity of the Turkish coast, the Middle East and the African one. The first defensive line was the coastal one, defined by principals placed on the sea in a strategic position for direct control of the coast. They were part of this group: the Maniace castle of Syracuse, that of Augusta, of Brucoli, of Catania, of Acicastello, the Tocco of Acireale, Schisò in the territory of Giardini, Capo Sant'Alessio, the Saracen Tower of Roccalumera, Capo Grosso in Ali , San Salvatore in Messina. Along the eastern side of the Peloritani mountains from Calatabiano to Messina, the island's defensive strategy also included a second line of fortifications, which controlled a more distant horizon from their position. These include the castle of Calatabiano, Taormina, Castelmola, Forza d’Agrò, Savoca, Fiumedinisi, Scaletta Zanclea, Santo Stefano di Briga, Matagrifone. Among them, the Belvedere castle of Fiumedinisi, at a critical distance from the village, so as to be in a state of neglect, among those listed is that which is in the worst conditions. In stark contrast to the dignity and history of the site and territory of Fiumedinisi, dating back to the Greek period. In this work we propose the survey of the castle with digital, photogrammetric technologies, Structure From Motion (SFM) and dense matching, to arrive at a 3D documentation and graphic drawings, considering that to date there are no significant scientific surveys and representations of this abandoned fortress.
Il castello Colonna di Arnara: dal restauro del monumento alla valorizzazione del borgo antico e del suo territorio
Authors: Cattaneo Alessandra , Baratin Laura
Published: May 2020

The castle Colonna of Arnara: from the restoration of the monument to the enhancement of the ancient village and its territoryThe castle of Arnara, is located in Ciociaria in southern Lazio, in what was once the feud of the Conti of Ceccano. For the territory it is the most important monumental complex of medieval architecture. In fact, despite its small size, it is one of the few examples of fortified architecture still original in its essential lines. This castle represents an exceptional case of sedimentation and stratification, which even today, from its reading, allows us to reconstruct both its historical events and those related to the urban development of the adjacent historic village. Moreover it can be considered of priority importance also from the urbanistic point of view because it represents the first historical nucleus of Arnara. Unfortunately, today, the castle is in a bad state of conservation. With the passing of time its conditions have become more and more aggravated also because of the complex events linked to the various passages of property, of private and public nature, which have strongly influenced the management of the monument. The study of the castle of Arnara is part of the national and international debate that considers participation a key factor for the sustainable enhancement of the cultural heritage, because it promotes greater awareness of its social and economic value. The objective of the research work is to develop, taking the castle as a case study, a new approach that sees cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) as an irreplaceable heritage of knowledge and as a precious resource for economic growth, employment and social cohesion; therefore a cultural heritage seen as a driving force. In the specific case of Colonna Castle, attention has been focused on the importance of being able to activate virtuous circles around this very important place of culture, enhancing its role as a centre of knowledge and incubator of creativity and social innovation.
The Ottoman fortress above Skradin in Dalmatia
Authors: Pavić Josip
Published: May 2020

Skradin is a town on the right bank of the Krka river, about 15 km upstream from Šibenik. Located deep in the hinterland, with good road connections, and a luxury of natural resources nearby, it’s no wonder that urban life flourished here since the Iron Age. But being below surrounding hills, this trading centre could never be successfully defended from a prolonged siege. This is why, throughout medieval times, Skradin was usually regarded as a less important neighbour of flourishing Šibenik. Various Croatian noble families, and occasionally the Venetians, ruled the town in fifteenth century. Conquered by the Ottomans in winter of 1521-22, Skradin soon again became an important trading point, the southernmost town in Krka sancak. It was reclaimed by Venetians temporarily from 1647 to 1670, and permanently from 1683. Today, due to the thorough destruction by the Venetian army, the earliest buildings in Skradin date to eighteenth century. The one exception is Turina, a small late medieval fort above the town. Recently branded as a fortress of Šubić family –the powerful magnates from late thirteenth century–, Turina was long considered to be Skradin’s main defensive point even in the Ottoman era. However, several archival sources suggested the existence of another fort, located on a much more favourable position. This theory was finally confirmed by surveying the nearby Gradina hill in the autumn of 2018.
El Castillo de Bairén (Gandía, España). Proyecto de documentación gráfica
Authors: Rodríguez-Navarro Pablo , Gil-Piqueras Teresa
Published: May 2020

Bairén Castle (Gandía, Spain). Graphic documentation projectBairén Castle was built in the Almoravid period, carring out the function of border hisn of the Taifa of Dénia. It was the administrative, political and legal-religious center of more than 20 farmhouses or qurà and castles. At present is possible visit the castle, although only part of its walls and remains of ruins scattered throughout the hill remain. The abandonment that has been suffering during these last years, together with the uncontrolled growth of the vegetation, make necessary to carry out urgent actions to conserve and put it in value. Within the framework of the study carried out in the initial phase of the Project for the authorization of the archaeological park of the castle of Bairén1, we have been developing an important work of graphic documentation, which will serve both to demonstrate the current state of the castle, as well as for the archaeological and restoration works. The main objective of this communication is to set the methodology for the graphic survey according to this type of monuments, establish the workflow, and finally, show the graphic documentation obtained.
Castillejo de Monteagudo (Murcia, España). Análisis integral para la conservación de estructuras islámicas en regiones sísmicas
Authors: Serrano Latorre María José , Alonso Durá Adolfo , Collado Espejo Pedro Enrique , Tormo Esteve Santiago
Published: May 2020

Castillejo of Monteagudo (Murcia, Spain). Comprehensive analysis for Islamic structures conservation in seismic regionsThe Castillejo of Monteagudo, which was built on second half of the twelfth century, is a fortified palace situated on rural suburbs of Murcia. It is 4 km to the northeast from the historic center of the city. This monument was part of a big almunia constitued by several emblematic buildings and some important hydraulic and agricultural infrastructures. It is unique in the Iberian Peninsula so its study and conservation are important to understand a not so well known historical period. The walls of this building were constructed in rammed earth and they contained one of the most important cruised patio of hispanic-muslim architecture. In spite of been listed as a Cultural Interest property its conservation state is awful. Its abandonment hinders its preservation for future generations. The Region of Murcia is an area with seismic activity. So, considering the place where the Castillejo is located, a seismic-structural study from a virtual model is executed to check its behavior in front of an earthquake. The results supply relevant information of both its current structural conservation state and its behavior or damages in case of a seismic event. That allow us to assess how urgent an intervention is and also it assures the correct way of conservation, restoration and maintenance.
Considerazioni sulla conservazione di un paesaggio archeologico etrusco: il caso delle fortificazioni di Cerveteri
Authors: Vagnarelli Tommaso
Published: May 2020

Considerations on the conservation of an etruscan archaeological landscape: the case of Cerveteri fortificationsWhere now stands the city of Cerveteri (RM), between the ninth and third century BC took form one of the most important city-states of Etruria: Caere. Today this place is especially noted for the presence of the Etruscan necropolis of Banditaccia, inserted in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004. The remains of the ancient fortifications, that represent one of the most interesting and well-preserved examples of an Etruscan defensive wall, are instead less known. Due to a prolonged abandonment and a presence of uncontrolled vegetation, the conservation of this testimony is now compromised by visible signs of deterioration. At the same time, this condition has defined a suggestive archaeological landscape in which architecture and nature coexist in a precarious balance. This contribution tries to deepen the importance of preserving this evocative symbiosis and proposes a possible conservative approach that could manage the relationship between ruins and vegetation.
Análisis integral, reconstrucción 3D y propuesta de musealización de la muralla medieval de Mula (Región de Murcia, España)
Authors: Collado-Espejo Pedro Enrique , Fernández-del-Toro Juan , García-León Josefina , La-Spina Vincenzina
Published: May 2020

Integral analysis, 3D reconstruction and proposed musealization of the medieval wall of Mula (Region of Murcia, Spain)The city of Mula (Region of Murcia, Spain), still retains important canvases of the medieval wall of the three enclosures (Alcazaba, Albacar and Medina) that shaped the urban layout from the twelfth century (Muslim domain), until the end of the fifteenth century (Christian Reconquest). Currently, the Albacar site is the most complete. On the Islamic Alcazaba was built, in the sixteenth century, the Castle and the wall of the Medina, only a few sections remain. Until now, the medieval wall was a great unknown. The historical landmark of the city has always been the castle. The communication focuses on exposing the exhaustive historical analysis, material, constructive and the state of conservation carried out of the medieval wall of Mula and, especially, of Albacar (the best preserved site). In addition, there has been a virtual volumetric recomposition, in 3D, of the entire Islamic walled complex (walls, towers, entrance doors to the Medina and cistern of Albacar). Also, the musealization of the Albacar site and the recovery of the volume of the cistern has been projected. This work is contributing to the recognition and social awareness of the heritage importance of the Islamic walls of Mula, being a guarantee for its restoration and conservation as a cultural reference of the city.
Conservazione e valorizzazione dei sistemi fortificati ridotti allo stato di rudere in Val Tanaro (Piemonte)
Authors: Romeo Emanuele
Published: May 2020

Conservation and enhancement of ruined fortified systems in Tanaro Valley (Piedmont)The contribution reports on a research concerning the preparatory investigation of some fortified systems of Tanaro Valley (Piedmont) in view of their restoration. The research highlighted the strong connection between the castles and the memory of events and characters that were linked to these architectures; the relationship between landscape and ruins that, today, represents a potential resource for the territory; the willingness of local authorities to improve knowledge, protection and enhancement of this heritage; the need to investigate theoretical and methodological issues and define the proper procedures for the conservation, restoration, safeguard, maintenance and management of a widespread and vulnerable heritage. The study, taking advantage of interdisciplinary contributions, used innovative instruments for the survey and monitoring of this heritage, as well as graphic and digital restitution techniques to propose to the scientific community –and communicate to the native population– the interventions of restoration, conservation, enhancement and management of these fortified systems. The research demonstrates that particular attention has to be paid to these less-known historical architectures that can however contribute, as effectively as the most famous and eye-catching fortification systems, to the political and social development and to the historical identity whose recognition, preservation and valorization are strongly hoped for.
Salendo sulla Vedetta. Un rilievo laser scanner all’interno del castello di Gallipoli
Authors: Muscatello Giovanna , Quarta Aurora , Mitello Carmine
Published: May 2020

Going up on the lookout. A laser scanner survey inside the Gallipoli castleGallipoli is a city located along the Ionian coast of Salento (Apulia, Italy) and it still preserves its original defensive system. Nowadays, the phases dating from the sixteenth century are visible together with the later ones and, in recent years, particular attention was dedicated to the Castle. It was opened for visitors from 2014, except to the so-called tower “Della Vedetta”, located on the northwestern quadrilateral’s corner. The only accessible areas of the castle’s lower level are two rooms with a connecting corridor, but the lower portion of the examined tower offers a rare proof of graffiti that has few local parallels. After a deep bibliographic and archivist research and the comparison with analogue works on similar well-studied contexts, we have carried out a direct analysis of this unknown portion through a 3D laser scanner. The scanner result proved to be an excellent tool to investigate the tower, whose articulation is made up of different rooms located on different levels connected by flights of stairs and where numerous mouths of fire are set. This 3D model allows to delineate the internal articulation, the constructive technique, the structural interventions and the whole corpus of graffiti too. The 3D survey helped to extrapolate considerable and various data. Moreover, it has suggested that a realization of a complete 3D model of the Castle can be a fruitful resource for its knowledge and it could represent a precious tool for an interactive enjoyment of the sectors still not open to visitors.
Il disegno della città ideale: Cosmopolis
Authors: Boido Cristina
Published: May 2020

The representations of the ideal town: CosmopolisIn 1548, under the Florentine lordship of the Medici, Charles V gave Cosimo I de 'Medici the task of defending the territories of Elba and the commercial traffic of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Duke, who strongly believed in the potential of the island and wanted to transform it into the center of Florentine rule over the Tyrrhenian, decided to fortify the ancient city of Ferraia, the current Portoferraio. A real jewel of military town planning that took the name of Cosmopolis was born by the architect Giovanni Battista Bellucci and by the engineer Giovanni Camerini. Thanks to its natural conformation, the gulf of Portoferraio protected on one side a strip of land that closes the port like a spiral, and on the other hand protected by two rocky headlands overlooking the sea, was extremely strategic and suitable for defense. Fort Stella and Fort Falcone were built in the upper part of the promontory and the Linguella tower, near the dock, all connected by a bastion wall. Later the defense was further strengthened by walls and ramparts also on the land front side according to the project of the architect Bernardo Buontalenti, transforming the city into an impregnable fortress, as well as a safe naval base. The study of urban representations of the city testifies to how the foundation of Cosmopolis for the Medici duchy was an event of extraordinary value, symbol of the strength of the Duke and his expansive abilities, symbol of an ideal city not only conceived and designed in contemporary treatises, but actually made.
Identification and preservation of the Cold War sites in Italy
Authors: Bravaglieri Simona
Published: May 2020

Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, more than 8000 militaries installations worldwide have been made available for civilian use. To many, the idea of attempting to conserve military sites from the Cold War sounds discordant due to the awkward or “uncomfortable” nature of the subject matter and the generally unappealing aesthetics associated. Even if the Cold War influenced many aspects of the popular culture, science and technology, architecture, landscape and people’s perception of the world, the legacy of this war is less tangible than others, and for this reason it is important to make an attempt to preserve its relics. Military sites might be the only representative Cold War remains of a country and reflect issues beyond their military functions. The aim of this contribution is to present few cases of reuse of Cold War military structures in Italy and to introduce the lack of their identification and preservation.
Le fortificazioni litoranee di Terra d’Otranto: una panoramica sulle torri costiere della provincia di Lecce
Authors: Tricarico Giuseppe
Published: May 2020

The coastal fortifications of Terra d’Otranto: a panoramic view of the coastal towers in the province of LecceDuring the Modern Age we witnessed the birth, consolidation and decline of great powers that dragged numerous political and religious conflicts with them. The Mediterranean Sea, as area of contact between the most distant Empires, experienced an era of intense naval activity in the form of piracy, race wars and armed deterrence, spreading along its shores with coastal watch towers. The organization of the defensive coastal system took place in intimate relationship with the territory, strongly characterizing the coasts which for centuries have seen them as the unique anthropical presence. Their exclusively military character has, however, inhibited their reuse over time, arousing until a few decades ago the disinterest of the community and their disavowal of architectures worthy of protection. The knowledge of the historical events and the morphotypological characteristics of the Apulian system of coastal towers thus becomes the starting point for their acknowledgment as fundamental identifying characters of the territory, finalizing their study to the re-appropriation of these assets by the community as strategical vehicles for the transmission of the local history and its intrinsic values. The classification of the towers in the province of Lecce has made them the object of spatial and typological analyses produced with the help of the opensource software “Quantum GIS” and geo-referenced on the official cartographic bases.
Quale futuro per il patrimonio fortificato: problemi di conservazione e valorizzazione
Authors: De Cadilhac Rossella
Published: May 2020

What future for fortified heritage: problems of conservation and enhancementWhat are the risk factors that undermine the conservation of fortified architecture? What are the future prospects of a heritage that is not always adequately protected and valued? These are the questions posed by castles, towers, fortresses that seem to have lost the meaning of their existence, for having failed in their original function. Certainly the abandonment involves an inevitable lack of maintenance with the inevitable decay due to natural causes with slow action and prolonged over time. But even bad restorations conducted without the necessary historical-critical awareness and the necessary technical skills can irreversibly cancel documents of art and history, as well as “material testimonies of civilization value”. It is a heritage of multiple criticalities that offers an extraordinary opportunity for contemporary design aiming at conservation. Innumerable problems are posed by fortified architectures, first and foremost the accessibility, but also their management, which cannot but take into account the very close typology-function relationship and where, however, the old utilization is no longer possible. Unquestionably the first step is represented by the knowledge of these singular architectures, in the becoming of historical processes, which is an unavoidable moment on which the choices aiming at conservation and valorisation depend. Emblematic from this point of view are some case studies investigated in Puglia which pose the problem of maximum conservative attention and desirable enhancement, pursued with the promotion of knowledge and the assurance of the best conditions of use, provided that the new function is respectful of the identity of the object of study, of its use vocations and attentive to the needs and expectations of the community.
Recovering of an identity: restoration works of the Orsini-Colonna castle in Avezzano, Italy
Authors: Felli Marco , Incerto Antonello
Published: May 2020

The Orsini Colonna castle of Avezzano represents one of the most important historic buildings in the internal area of Abruzzo. Founded at the end of the fifteenth century, on the rests of an older structure, with continuing modification till the sixteenth century, the building had several damages with the earthquake of January thirteenth 1915, which destroyed the entire city Avezzano and the neighborhood, causing more than 30000 victims. After the quake event, the efforts and the works for the preservation didn’t have the time to start, because of the beginning of the world wars; in particular, the castle suffered more damages with the three different bombardments on the city in 1943 and 1944. The first works of recovering and restoration were achieved in 1964 by the Genio Civile of Avezzano, the corps of engineers, with the direction of Tommaso Orlandi; in this intervention, the building had been interested by the recovering of the structures, with the reconstruction of the perimeter walls, also with the purpose of avoiding deterioration and the complete abandonment. The second works were conducted by the architect Alessandro Del Bufalo, who designed the restoration of the entire building, inserting an internal concert hall in the courtyard with a new structure in steel and glass, recovering the castle basement under the towers, and creating a modern art gallery museum in the second level. The works finished in 1994. This paper aims to redefine the historical development of the building, focusing in particular on the restoration interventions of the last century, and their different methods in the efforts of preservation, which approached to the preservation and reconstruction of the building in different ways.
Le tenaci malte della torre del castello di Cerreto Ciampoli (Siena, Italia)
Authors: Giamello Marco , Columbu Stefano , Gabbrielli Fabio , Mugnaini Sonia , Scala Andrea
Published: May 2020

Strong mortars from the tower of the Cerreto Ciampoli castle (Siena, Italy)Known since the eleventh century, the castle of Cerreto Ciampoli was one of the main fortifications of the ancient Republic of Siena (Tuscany, Italy). The magnificent ruins, located on the top of a hill overlooking the Chianti Mountains, consist of two city walls, a door, a church, the remains of some rooms and a mighty tower lying on the ground broken up into five sections of several meters in length. The present study is focused on the analysis of the mineralogical-petrographic and chemical features of the sack and the bedding mortars of the tower, and it is aimed at understanding the exceptional qualities of these mortars that, during the collapse of the artifact, prevented the tower from shattering into smaller pieces. The tenacity of these mortars appears to be the result of the concurrence of more expedients, such as the choice of well-selected materials (hydraulic limes obtained from the local Alberese limestone, sandy aggregates from well-rinsed river sands with a high silicoclastic component) and the use of particular technical methods (i.e. hot lime technique).
Rappresentazioni planimetriche, vedutistiche e tridimensionali per la fortificazione di due isole del Mediterraneo occidentale: Elba e Palmaria (secolo XIX)
Authors: De Santi Valentina , Gemignani Carlo A. , Guarducci Anna , Rossi Luisa
Published: May 2020

Planimetric maps, views and three-dimensional representations for the fortification of two western Mediterranean islands: Elba and Palmaria (nineteenth century)The French expansion and domination in Italy between the Revolutionary Age and the Empire based on a widespread activity of territorial knowledge, which rested in the Corps of Engineers-Geographers and in the Military Genius the main actors. The paper summarizes the results of long research on this activity, carried out in the islands of Elba (Tuscany) and Palmaria (Liguria): two strategic islands in the western Mediterranean. The need to equip the territories dominated by the French with increasingly functional defenses, gave a strong impulse to the renewal of surveying and cartography, with the use of geodetic projections, views and three-dimensional models. Elba example is significant for the complete triangulation of the island connected to the Corsica one (with part of Sardinia and the smaller islands of the Tuscan archipelago). Geographer engineers such as Tranchot, Simonel, Moynet, Puissant worked on these activities and produced some maps and a small model of part of Elba. In the Palmaria example the three-dimensional reproduction (plan-relief) was contextual to the work of Genius engineers who produced a vast and organic corpus of maps of various scales, views, sketches and watercolors, suitable to represent the most complete visualization of the landscapes where to insert defensive buildings. The collaboration between French and Italian engineers took advantage of this first experience in designing some batteries. However, it was the post-Napoleonic decades that made Palmaria island a powerful “fortress island” to defend the entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia, where the military arsenal (commissioned by Cavour and built by Domenico Chiodo) arose.
Asentamientos fortificados en el Rif Oriental (siglos VIII-XV). Nuevos datos sobre Ghassasa y Tazouda (Nador, Marruecos)
Authors: Sarr Bilal , Mattei Luca , Hernández Casas Yaiza
Published: May 2020

Fortified settlements in Eastern Rif (eighth-fifteenth centuries): new data on Ghassasa and Tazouda (Nador, Morocco)The present paper attempts to aproximate to the archaeological research of two of the most relevants fortified settlements of the Medieval Rif (north of Morocco), Ghassasa and Tazouda. Reviewing the written sources –Ibn Ḥawqal, al-Bakrī, al-Idrīsī, Ibn Ḥayyān, al-Bādisī, etc.– and comparing the data they offer with the archaeological records of surface, we report here the recent hypothesis deduced from the analysis of their emerging structures and pottery, trying to trace some new information of the fortification process in the Rif since Early Medieval centuries  to the fifteenth century and to detect the development of the interrelations and influences by the commercial exchanges between twice Mediterranean coasts: North African and al-Andalus. So, we offer the planimetry of both settlements, Ghassasa and Tazouda, which haven´t been documented before, and also some typologies of Magrib’s medieval pottery founded there, contributing with an original research to the study of medieval urbanism in Magrib al-Aqṣā and the role that they take on the trade routes existing between Bilād al-Sūdān, to Siŷilmāsa, and al-Andalus.
Town and Fortification in the Early Modern. A complex relation-ship
Authors: Cornell Per
Published: May 2020

Which is the relationship between town and fortification? In a traditional perspective this has largely been considered a question of defense of the civilian population. However, this factor, though certainly important in several cases, cannot be seen as the only relevant factor addressing the problem. There are also other traditional explanations. One of these relates to questions of paying custom for selling and buying items. The fortified enclosure would make control of payment easier. A third factor, also frequently mentioned has to do with general control of a population inside the walls, i.e. controlling movement. These factors, but also several others, will be briefly discussed in relation to a set of primary examples from the Swedish realm, but also certain examples beyond the Swedish context, mainly taken from the Mediterranean macro-region. Most certainly, the relative relevance of various factors is not always the same, and this variability may be of major importance when addressing major fortification. Accepting for variability will allow us to start to understand better certain general problems, and will illustrate the importance of looking closer at the evidence (in form of texts, drawings, tangible remains, etc.).
Una rappresentazione digitale del castello Eurialo per l’indagine storico-interpretativa
Authors: Valenti Rita , Giuliano Sebastiano , Paternò Emanuela
Published: May 2020

A Digital representation of Euryalus fortress: a historical interpretive studyIt is clear that concepts and cognitive processes aimed at putting forward fortified systems in their relation with the territory and with the surrounding landscape, establish inextricably interwoven “interests” and a consequent osmotic hysteresis between their emergence and disappearance into the deepest part of the earth. The logic behind the defensive structures of Euryalus fortress is particularly interesting. The fortress designed during the Greek period and located on the top of Epipolae hill, represented a strategic fortification for the city’s defence. Therefore, it is reasonable to think about a sequence of emerging or disappearing empty spaces; a semantic vacuum to be filled with logical-subjective interpretations pertaining to those who visit the place. The conceptual framework provides knowledge and documentation meant as indispensable supporting instruments to understand Dionysius I and Archimedes’ thoughts where the integration of people and environment forms the basis of the close iterative connection among nature, artifice and landscape. The research takes this direction implementing innovative technological systems trying to go beyond in order to achieve virtual reconstruction processes, even if partial, of the fortress. Survey, thus, can be applied as an instrument for the knowledge of historical heritage which once converted into digital heritage is a support for the reconstruction of lost ancient scenarios. Actually, the implementation of innovative systems allows an easy-to-use data viewing which supports the interpretive phase, the archiving, consultation and dissemination of survey products. In particular, the survey of the fortress with integrated methodologies (both instrumental and photogrammetric) provides not only a fundamental basis for the documentation of the fortress conditions but also provides a basis for the collection of reconstructive hypotheses formulated by researchers who have been involved with the structure so far. Interactions among archaeology, history, geomorphology and technology make history and a past renowned glory come alive with the common spirit of coming up to a strong synergy between the past and the future destiny of the place.
Fujian earth castles. Knowledge and typo-morphological analysis for the protection and design of the study case: Yue Zhuangzhai
Authors: Conte Antonio , Wu Xin , Li Jianjun , Calia Marianna
Published: May 2020

The work of documentation of part of fortified architecture in rammed earth and wood, typical of Fujian region in south-eastern China, represents the start of a research and cooperation project between DiCEM Department at Università degli Studi della Basilicata and Fuzhou University, determined by a MAECI co-funding project named “Youth Exchanges”, for the cultural mobility of Italian and Chinese students1. Generally, three types of fortified vernacular architecture can be found in Fujian region, China: Tulou, Tubao (soil castle), and Zhuangzhai. Even though they are all residential buildings built in rammed earth, they are different historically, geographically, functionally and typologically.
Las torres conservadas en el territorio de Vélez-Málaga (Málaga)
Authors: García-Pulido Luis José , Ruiz-Jaramillo Jonathan
Published: May 2020

The towers preserved in the territory of Vélez-Málaga (Málaga, Spain)The Spanish coast preserves many watchtowers as an important cultural heritage. They testify the insecurity of this maritime border in different historical periods, especially during the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, when it was attacked regularly by what has come to be known as Berber piracy. The territory of Vélez-Málaga was not alien to this process and, after the Castilian conquest of the Axarquía region in the late fifteenth century, the western border between the Christian and the Islamic kingdoms of the western Mediterranean moved to the southeaster coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The municipal district of Vélez-Málaga has an important architectural and archaeological heritage from different origins, including its defensive structures. They belong to a broader military system in the territory that consisted of coastal and inland watchtowers, farmstead towers, fortified enclosures in addition to the castle and the urban walls of Vélez-Málaga. This paper presents the first data obtained from the diagnosis of this heritage in the frame of the programme of conservation of the defensive architecture from the municipality of Vélez-Málaga.