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[EN] The growing interest in the heritage that contemporary society carries with it, and which is reflected in the extent of the debates and issues relating to its preservation and enhancement, runs up, most of the time, to the authentic memory / memory dichotomy. Dynamic. That being said, the reuse of built heritage in the process of renewing the image of our cities (use-value) becomes dependent on a global conception included in a sustainable urban development approach. The monumental heritage, subdivided, generally, into five categories namely; religious, hospitable and funeral, civil (public or private), agricultural and industrial and finally military, raises enormous problems as for its reuse. These are more pronounced towards the military-defensive architecture that is the subject of this contribution. In Algeria, defensive architecture occupies an important part in its heritage site. The typological diversity –the result of a long stratification from the early antiquity to the middle of the last century– as well as the dominant position occupied by this defensive heritage abandoned in the current urban landscape imposes a more urgent care. Therefore, we want, through this communication, to lay the first steps of a patrimonial approach to highlight this or these unknown military architectures and preserve our defensive heritage for which the collective memory is not attested and still painful. The reuse of the defensive heritage in Algeria must first and foremost go through its identification, inventory its various typologies, evaluate its current physical impact and finally explore the different urban alternatives that will result from its reintegration into the urban experience and for sustainable cities and citizens.

The transformation of the Andalusian fortress of Taibilla into a feudal border castleIn this paper, we will study the fortress of Taibilla, a defensive complex built by the Order of Santiago in the middle of the thirteenth century in a strategic point of the Sierra de Segura, currently belonging to the municipality of Nerpio (Albacete). Although the complex was built at the top of the hill on whose hillside a relatively important town existed in Andalusian times, the archaeological excavations proved that most of the remains of the fortification currently visible were built after the Christian conquest. It is a stately castle and the outer enclosure that protected the Christian town, both of notable importance since they were destined to accommodate a comendador and a council respectively. The Encomienda de Taibilla, however, disappeared within a few years due to the avatars of the border, leaving its territory incorporated to that of Yeste. For this reason, the fortress of Taibilla hardly underwent modifications in the medieval period, so that it has been fossilized as an excellent example of the santiaguista stately architecture of the middle of the thirteenth century.

Tunisian fortifications disputed between Spaniards and Turks in the mid-sixteenth century, documented by coeval iconography. An analysis from the territory to the architectureThe five volumes of the precious archival collection of drawings called Architettura Militare (Military Architecture), kept at the Archivio di Stato di Torino (Turin State Archive), propose documents made mostly by military engineers from the half of the sixteenth to the following first decade. The tomes collect mostly drawings of places under the aegis of the Duchy of Savoy, apart from the second one, dedicated to documents of Spanish military interest (Mediterranean Sea and Lombardy maps). As I pointed out at Fortmed Convention 2018, the reason why these documents are kept at the Turin State Archives is because of their belonging to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish king and wife of Carlo Emanuele I di Savoia. In the volume Architettura Militare II (Military Architecture II) 26 tables, all datable from 1522 (Rhodes) to 1596 (Cadiz), concern territories, walled cities and fortifications, of islands and Mediterranean coasts, disputed by Christians and Turks for the supremacy on the sea. In the previous study I had examined drawings about Egypt, eastern Ottoman territories and Holy Land coasts, Spanish possessions as Perpignan and Cadiz bay. In this new study instead, I would like to examine in depth the iconography about Tunisia. Those drawings, so different from each other for scale and graphic quality, document those phases in which the Spanish control is characterized by alternate situations: the Iberian presidio dates back to 1535, reconquered by Ottomans in 1570, it is taken back in three years by Christians who keep it until 1574 only, when the whole Tunisian territory, precious bastion for the control of routes and trades, definitely returns in the hands of the Turks.

[EN] The Budello tower is located on a slight promontory from which it dominates the entire bay of Teulada and the towers of Sant’Isidoro, Pixinni, Malfatano and Porto Scudo. The tower, built in 1601 with irregular ashlars of local stones (mainly of magmatic-intrusive origin), has a truncated cone shape, an external diameter of 10,2 m and a height of 11,80 m. Inside it consists of a single room, with a domed vault and a central pillar, equipped with a embrasure, a fireplace, a trap door in the cistern, and a staircase, from which the square of arms was accessed. It was a torre de armas garrisoned by: 1 commander (in 1603), 1 artilleryman and 4 soldiers (1767), 1 artilleryman and 3 soldiers (1801), 1 artilleryman and 4 soldiers (1812). Although it underwent several restorations, documented as early as the years 1617-1619, the tower remained generally in good condition until the period 1763-1784, in which new restoration works were carried out including the closure of the parade ground with a classic parapet with gunboats and battlements. Other restoration works are carried out in 1808, 1819 and 1840. The tower remained in operation until 1843. Like all the other coastal fortifications, it was then definitively demilitarized with the Regio Decreto of 25 April 1867. Specific objectives of the research are the petrographic and physical-mechanical analysis of the stones and ancient mortars used in the construction of the tower, the structural analysis of the building and related geometric-constructive characteristics. The final intention is to understand the decay processes taking place on the tower both in terms of materials and static-structural aspects, and to envisage possible restoration interventions to be implemented aimed at its conservation.

The Muslim Alcazar of Valencia: a functional hypothesisBetween the 1980s and 1990s, the Almoina site in Valencia was excavated by the SIAM (Municipal Service of Archeological Research) and also, in the following decade, the subsoil of the Almudín and the San Luis Beltrán square. In these surveys, remains of the fortifications of the Alcazar were found, as well the royal cemetery and the palatine dwellings that were presumably inside the enclosure. However, the excavation has been partial and not allowed us to understand the functioning of the complex. The work presented here is our interpretation of the organization and evolution of the Alcazar from the Caliphate period to the Christian conquest. It is the mature fruit of a long personal reflection based on the analysis of the plans of the excavations, the confrontation with the original sources of the eleventh (Cidian chronicles) and thirteenth centuries (Llibre del Repartiment and episcopal acquisitions) and some medieval representations, as well as the comparison with other similar structures. The result must be taken with caution and is subject to all kinds of revisions, but we hope that it will help to understand better this fragment of the history of the city of Valencia.

A tower in the wall of Biar. Consolidation and recovery of an urban imageThe wall of Biar goes around the historical part of the city and connects it with the castle at the top of the hill. This urban wall was comprised by the city wall and a walk wall, which were protected by a battlement and a series of towers. Currently, the urban wall has been swallowed by changes in the area. Internal edifications to the city wall have progressively taken over the wall and, in its outside part, an area as wide as the towers has been occupied, which has eventually set up the front part of Torreta street. The Tower of Jesus is part of this defensive set that nowadays is almost invisible. Before its restoration, the tower was in an unfortunate state of abandonment and deterioration. Large cracks in its masonry warned of its immediate collapse. After its defensive use, it was transformed and joined to more modern neighboring buildings. Removed walls, deformed gaps and variations in the roof concealed its past as it went unnoticed and passed as another house on the street. Only the traces in its walls exposed its history. The intervention process for its recovery began with a thorough, formal, dimensional and technical study, to subsequently propose its restoration and the choice of contiguous elements that had to be eliminated to show a recognizable set. Also, a new way of walking and using it was put forward. During the intervention, several objectives were considered. In addition to the most obvious ones, such as the structural consolidation that would prevent its eventual collapse, recovering its historical image and showing the key facts that would lead to interpreting its past and discovering its secrets. Besides describing in detail the restoration process in its entirety, this text aims to present the issues that were raised during the intervention and to consider those reasons behind all the decisions that were made.

From the Theatrum Sabaudiae: drawings of fortifications in celebratory representations of a dynastyIn order to make the lands and places of their possessions known to European courts and communities, first Duke Carlo Emanuele II of Savoy (1634-1675) and then the Duchess Regent Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy Nemours (1644-1724) published in 1682, in Amsterdam, at the printing works founded by the publisher and cartographer Joan Blaeu (1596-1673), the publication Theatrum Statuum Regiae Celsitudinis Sabaudiae Ducis, Pedemontii Principis, Cypri Regis. The contribution extracts and comments the graphic transcription made to represent the fortifications depicted in the views, comparing within synoptic paintings divided by theme or components, the recurrent codes of an iconographic nature contained in the one hundred and forty-five plates.

Knowledge and material analysis for conservation actions related to the Maida castle in Calabria (Italy)The Maida castle is located in a hill site in historical center of the Maida City, facing two sea gulfs: Squillace gulf on the east side and Sant’Eufemia gulf on the west side. The position is strategic moreover because the castle is located in the center of Calabria between the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian Seas. Hidden in an inner area, the castle was erected on a rock which has a wide perspective view, giving the ability to control a stretch of territory between the two coasts and allowing to make an easier defense. Although today the fortress appears mainly as a ruin, it is still possible to distinguish one of the quadrangular towers as used as district prison, some inaccessible underground spaces and part of the walls. The state of degradation is evident, caused by the time action and, unfortunately, by inadequate maintenance activity. Most of the external surfaces have evident signs of deterioration, caused by bad weather conditions, but above all by weed vegetation. To better understand the role of the factors as biological aggression, a study has been carried out focusing on most common and widespread biological degradation present on the external surfaces of the castle. Samples of biological materials were taken and examined in the laboratory in order to acquire useful information about the state of the monument. This knowledge is necessary because it provides a first picture of the main causes of degradation of the castle and useful information for developing more aware and respectful restorations of its identity.

[EN] This article deals with the analysis of the conserved remains of the water storage system of the Castle the Rock or the High Fortress of Martos (La Peña or Fortaleza Alta de Martos), which constituted the castle and main headquarters of the Master of the Order of Calatrava at the Commander of Martos between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The elements that compose it make a unique hydraulic complex that still allows to be recognized and documented. Due to its importance and meaning, this castle is one that better shows the constructive techniques and the polyorcetic typologies developed and updated by this Order in its Commands in Castile-La Manche and Andalusia. The hydraulic system to supply water to this rocky fortress is a reflect of these technology, and it is unique in its design and layout., Este trabajo ha sido realizado como parte de la investigación doctoral de Fernando Ortega Camacho y en el marco del Proyecto I+D+i “Las atalayas que defendieron el reino de nazarí de Granada. Análisis y documentación científica (Nazalaya)” (Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, HAR2016-79689-P, 2017-2020), convocatoria de 2016, cofinanciado con fondos FEDER; así como en el proyecto I+D+i en el marco del Programa Operativo Feder Andalucía 2014- 2020, de la Convocatoria de la Universidad de Málaga para proyectos retos y frontera, convocatoria de 2018, titulado “Documentación gráfica de los castillos y alcazabas medievales conservados en Andalucía. Puesta al día del conocimiento y difusión de este legado patrimonial” (UMA18-FEDERJA-257).

Digital survey and analysis of the lusignan wing of Kyrenia CastleThe paper illustrates the documentation and analysis methods of a wing of the Kyrenia castle in Cyprus. The laser-scanner and photogrammetry Structure from Motion (SfM) survey campaigns took place during the international workshop “Reading and designing the Kyrenia Castle” held in May 2018 in Girne, involving the Girne American University (Cyprus) and the University of Florence. The survey required a more in-depth analysis of the environments around the courtyard, in particular those located on the eastern front, which host numerous archaeological finds, including the Kyrenia shipwreck, dating back to the fourth century BC. The analysis was based on the drawings (plans, elevations and sections) served as support for diagnostic and material investigations aimed at highlighting the state of superficial conservation and structures and their historical stratigraphy.

Assassing the defensibility of the pre-colonial defensive architecture in Algeria: case study on the medieval fortified villagesAlgeria’s pre-colonial towns of the medieval period still exist in different typologies, ranging from the isolated buildings (forts, castles) and town enclosures to whole urban units (fortified villages, defensives towns). Indeed, the constituent of these fortresses was their defense system, characterized by its large dimension, constituted essentially by the enclosure wall, and architectural features of defensiveness correlated with the outside and the inside of the fortresses. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between physical landscape, built defensive features and cultural values of the medieval fortified villages in Algeria, two medieval fortified villages in our case “Kalaa of Beni Abbes” in Bejaia and “Kalaa of Beni Rached” in Oran, that we identified as an evolved landscape and interpreted as complex system (both defensive architecture and continuing cultural landscape). This current study consists of quantifying the defensiveness degree of these sites situated within different contexts, in fact, this method ensures to identify the strategy adopted to be protected against different invasions. However, in order to achieve this we calculate a spatial defensiveness index (DI) of these sites. The parameters of our choice are related to the implantation site, the elevation, the visibility and the geometrical shape, which allow us to estimate the defensiveness degree of the defense system of our case studies.

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.

Virtual reconstruction of the fortified bridge of the Media Luna (Cartagena de Indias) using digital toolsOne of the most important architectural pieces of the walled complex of Cartagena de Indias in Colombia was the so-called bridge of the Media Luna, whose first phase of construction dates back to 1628. Since its construction, the Media Luna underwent several reforms and was submitted to some projects aimed at strengthening its defensive capacity conceived by military engineers at the service of the Spanish Crown, such as Juan Jiménez Donoso and Antonio de Arévalo. Despite this, a complete plan of the bridge, demolished at the end of the nineteenth century, has not been preserved, and it was never completely photographed. This paper, as a product of a research project related to the genesis of construction techniques in Cartagena de Indias, presents a digital reconstruction of the Media Luna after gathering and analyzing cartographic information still preserved in archives, photographs taken shortly before the demolition of the bridge, as well as traveler stories, descriptions and drawings done by nineteenth century chroniclers. The integral visualization of the Media Luna and its surroundings offers new value to the bridge and contributes to the integral understanding of the fortified complex of Cartagena de Indias.

The coastal defensive system of Southern Sardinia in the cartography of the sixteenth-seventeenth centuriesStarting from the sixteenth century, the coastal landscape of Sardinia suffered deep transformations related to the construction of defensive structures to protect the inhabitants of the towns and land resources. Coastal towers and fortresses are the most evident signs of these interventions. This paper aims to reconstruct these processes through archival and cartographic documents produced between the second half of the sixteenth century and the first decades of the seventeenth century. Particularly interesting is the comparison between the maps depicting the coastal area between Cagliari and Quartu and its hinterland drawn in 1577 by Rocco Capellino and those drawn underneath the viceroy Vivas in 1623-1625. Cartographic and archive documents can reveal interesting data to reconstruct the changes that occurred in this period, as a result of the interventions aimed at the defense of the coast and the towns with the construction of the first watchtowers and the progressive modernization of the outer walls of the fortress of Cagliari and its ramparts’ raising.

[EN] The “modern” fortifications at Piacenza are situated at a significant physical and cultural crossroads linking the Mediterranean and roads leading to Central Europe and the North Sea. This paper aims to include their historical bastion features and city walls within an open-air educational museum that is well integrated within the modern town. Starting from the original basis of a defensive nature conceived to mark boundaries and divide kingdoms, the plan is to build a park which, by means of a fully-equipped green belt, is able to narrate the story of the Siegecraft and Renaissance apse techniques. At the same time, the aim is to explain how such a system may serve as a valuable means of allowing sustainable urban transport along with that of respecting and highlighting cultural heritage. In order to tell the complete story, an attempt is made to describe how direct relief may relate to the “compact town”.

Reuse of urban defensive heritage in AlgeriaThe growing interest in the heritage that contemporary society carries with it, and which is reflected in the extent of the debates and issues relating to its preservation and enhancement, runs up, most of the time, to the authentic memory / memory dichotomy. Dynamic. That being said, the reuse of built heritage in the process of renewing the image of our cities (use-value) becomes dependent on a global conception included in a sustainable urban development approach. The monumental heritage, subdivided, generally, into five categories namely; religious, hospitable and funeral, civil (public or private), agricultural and industrial and finally military, raises enormous problems as for its reuse. These are more pronounced towards the military-defensive architecture that is the subject of this contribution. In Algeria, defensive architecture occupies an important part in its heritage site. The typological diversity –the result of a long stratification from the early antiquity to the middle of the last century– as well as the dominant position occupied by this defensive heritage abandoned in the current urban landscape imposes a more urgent care. Therefore, we want, through this communication, to lay the first steps of a patrimonial approach to highlight this or these unknown military architectures and preserve our defensive heritage for which the collective memory is not attested and still painful. The reuse of the defensive heritage in Algeria must first and foremost go through its identification, inventory its various typologies, evaluate its current physical impact and finally explore the different urban alternatives that will result from its reintegration into the urban experience and for sustainable cities and citizens.

[EN] 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., Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del Proyecto I+D+i “Las atalayas que defendieron el reino de nazarí de Granada. Análisis y documentación científica (Nazalaya)” (Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, HAR2016- 79689-P, 2017-2020), convocatoria de 2016, cofinanciado con fondos FEDER. El estudio de las torres conservadas en este término municipal ha permitido la realización de la diagnosis de estas torres dentro del programa de arquitectura defensiva del Excmo. Ayuntamiento de VélezMálaga (EDUSI O.T.6 – 0.E.6.3.4 Rehabilitación y Promoción del Patrimonio Histórico, VM-OT6-LA1).

Christian adaptation of the defences of the Alcazaba of Almeria during the sixteenth centuryAfter the capitulation of the nasrid city of Almería (1489), the new Castilian administration was able to verify the state of ruin of its defences due to the earthquake of 1487, ordering the rapid construction of a castle on the highest point of the battered hispano-muslim Alcazaba. Between 1490 and 1502 the castle was built, incorporating in its design the most effective systems of the time to repel an attack with gunpowder. The typological references of this military installation correspond to the School of Valladolid; with a long tradition in the construction of castles. In parallel with the completion of these works, the Catholic Monarchs ordered in 1501 to armor the defence of the coasts of the Kingdom of Granada, articulating and extending the medieval system of watchtowers scattered along the coast, to counteract the fragility of the annexed territories, the mestizaje of its people, and the proximity of Africa. Thus concluded the works in the Castle, the works were centred in the repair of the walls of the city, action that will extend to the fences of the Alcazaba (1526). Towards 1547, attacks by turkish and berber pirates followed one another on the Almeria coast in the face of the defencelessness of the population. These incursions led to concern about the proper conservation of military installations. As a consequence of this, the old Alcazaba was adapted to the distant war offered by the use of gunpowder. The first interventions were designed by Luis de Machuca, architect of the Palace of Carlos V in the Alhambra. This accommodation included the construction of the bastions of the Campana (1550) and the repair of the doors of Justice and the Guard (1565), completing the program due to the proximity of the War with the Moriscos, with the construction of the bastions of the San Matías and Espolón (1568).

The fortifications of the coast of Malaga in the Nasrid period, more than a suggestive defensive quintetIn this article we deal with the unique coastal defensive belt that the city of Malaga has in Nasrid times, about the origin of it and its process of building as well as its functionalities that exceed the purely defensive ones. The first constructions aimed at defending the city from the sea correspond to the dynasty, with the construction of the alcazaba and the defensive fence of the medina, as well as incipient atarazanas, a cast of works of political propaganda. The Almoravid and Almohad empires do not stand out for the execution of new plant works, but rather for maintenance, adequacy and repair work. Its peak will be reached during the Nasrid sultanate, with the buildings of the castle of Gibralfaro, a terrestrial coracha, the castil of the Genoese and the atarazanas, all of them distributed and adapted with great skill to the coastal topography, as well as also by suggestive refortification works. All this reflects the various political and economic situations that aretransformed throughout the Islamic period during the caliphate, as the caliphate and the Nazarí headquarters, of which Malaga is the second city in importance and its main port. Our methodology has taken into account the contributions of textual sources, historiographic sources and, above all, archaeological actions.

Project and digital strategies for a built heritage and its landscape in the coastal fortifications system of Northern SardiniaThe research will deal with new methods about project and digital strategies: first starting from digital survey, operated with 3D laser scanner and photogrammetry procedures, allowing, through various operations, coordinated in a workflow to obtain a single point-cloud, derived from the alignment of all scan, to generate a complex 3D model, so called Building Information Model for Heritage (BIM-H). The present research project aims to investigate and systematize, the new digital restitution strategies of the fortification existing through laser scanning and digital mapping, in particular, on military structures, as well as reflect on the problem of protection and managing this specific kind of built heritage today so far from the motivations that once determined its construction. Choosing two case studies, belonging to the coastal fortifications system of Northern Sardinia, built in the same historical period, Forte Cappellini and Punta Rossa, analyze the common constructive characters, the relationship with nature and their current state of conservation, going to verify the possibility of sharing methodologies and strategies of appropriate project. Passing from an isolated and static vision of work files to one that will be shared and dynamic, it will be possible to offer “food for thoughts” in various areas and disciplines related to Architecture, which will be able to interface simultaneously and work in progress, enriching its content and know-how. The outcome of the study will allow to recognize the emergence of a new strategy of scientific investigation and design able to positively influence the protection and conservation of military architecture of our peninsula, suggesting theoretical and operational guidelines of different nature, often in shorter times and with results almost unimaginable before, allowing for further analysis and developments the same model in future.

[EN] The complex structure of the Ligurian territory has found a precise correspondence in the development of the defensive structures. If the main cities were able to provide themselves with “closed” defence systems (the most important of which –the Genoese city walls– are second only in size to the Chinese Wall), the smaller cities and the poorly built areas were equipped with a real “network” of widespread and punctual defensive elements. These are the defence towers and watchtowers that were built mainly to face the Saracen invasions and were strongly related to the morphology of the territory. These are now a vast heritage that is in danger of being lost because of the urban transformations that have characterized the last decades, that have changed the territory and that have led to radical transformations of the artifacts that still exist today. The objective of protecting the heritage of the towers present in the Ligurian territory –and in particular on the coasts of Imperia– was the vector that suggested the research conducted at a multidisciplinary level and that led to the census and knowledge of what remains of this complex system of defense spread over the Ligurian coastal territory. The elaboration of a detailed census of the existing artefacts has allowed the analysis of the recurrent typologies, the study of the connections with the geography, and has brought to the knowledge of the state of conservation of this singular architectural patrimony that still today connotes suggestive ambits of the Ligurian territory and represents a great potential for the development of tourist and cultural activities. Subsequently, a number of projects have been developed which, starting from the dissemination of knowledge of the heritage in question, have as their objective the enhancement of it, identifying new possible uses of individual artifacts within a landscape system of collective interest.

Al-Bunayya, a fortified Marinid city on the northern coast of the strait of Gibraltar (1282-1375 AD)This article presents the results of the archaeological investigation carried out between 2017 and 2018 by Algeciras City Council in al-Bunayya (1282-1375), the only city founded by the Marinid dynasty in al-Andalus, after recent research revealed its true location. Until then, the site of the city had been attributed to another Islamic city in Algeciras: al-Ŷazīra al-jadrā’. The two cities existed alongside one another from the end of the Middle Ages, until they were destroyed by the Nasrids in 1375 or 1379 and subsequently abandoned. The medina’s defences comprised a wall protected by two lines of concentric barbicans and a third section which may have formed part of the entrance to one of the city gates. At least three phases of construction have been identified: the first coincides with the founding of the city by the Marinid sultan Abū Yūsuf (1282-1285), when the wall and the first barbican were built from rammed earth, a technique used in most Marinid urban settlements. The second phase (1285-1344) may be linked to Nasrid refurbishments, which covered or substituted the former rammed earth walls of the towers with walls made from layers of stone masonry and filled with rubble masonry, reflecting the customary methods used to refurbish fortifications on the border with Castile. The third phase (1344-1369) may be attributed to the time of the Castilian conquest due to the presence of stonemasons’ marks, and involved the construction of a sloping barbican using stone and rubble masonry.

[EN] In the last 20 years the field of cultural heritage has experienced a revolution in terms of documentation methods. The latest technological advances in laser scanners and photogrammetry have opened the possibility of documenting in three dimensions all types of monuments and sites regardless of their size or complexity. In this revolution fortified spaces have not been an exception. Hundreds of research teams around the world have developed 3D digitization projects of castles and fortresses. However, the overall impact of these projects has been very limited, partly due to the lack of collaboration and partly due to the inability of citizens to freely access the data. Currently, the research team of the US non-profit entity Global Digital Heritage is working on the massive digitization of fortifications in Spain, regardless of their chronology or size. In this context, work has been done on digitizing the prehistoric fortified site of Motilla del Azuer in Daimiel, the Iberian oppidum of Cerro de las Cabezas in Valdepeñas, the fortified Islamic city of Calatrava La Vieja in Carrión de Calatrava, the medieval Christian castle of Calatrava La Nueva in Aldea del Rey, the medieval-Renaissance castle of Los Vélez in Mula, the watchtower of Cope in Águilas or the machine-gun bunker of the Spanish Civil War in Alhama de Murcia, to name just a few examples.

Gallipoli in the Mediterranean fortified landscapeThe paper, through the study of the main maps and historical imagery, intends to describe through pictures the fortified city of Gallipoli alongside the evolution of the Mediterranean coastal landscape and, specifically of the Salento peninsula. Starting from the analysis of the Piri Reis map, a specific selection of depictions shows how the city with its castle, its fortifications and its ancient port overlooking the Ionic coast, was always identified as territorial landmark; it has been geographically recognizable since the first maps and views, both for the structure intended to protect from incursions from the sea and for the commercial exchanges with other mediterranean countries. From the analysis of images made at different times and for different purposes, it appears that the Gallipoli has always been seen as a center of primary importance in the fortified coastal landscape, like it still are today. In spite of the progressive urban growth, the phenomena of conurbation and the transformations of the coasts caused by coastal anthropization remain fully recognizable in their original structure and in their inseparable relationship with the marine and terrestrial landscape.

The fortress of Arquata del Tronto: symbol of rebirth for the Marche Region affected by the earthquakeThe Fortress of Arquata del Tronto in the Marche region is an imposing structure that rises on the crag to the north of the historic center. It represents a typical example of military architecture in the Apennines Area. Its foundation is between the eleventh and the twelfth century, an initial phase of embankment which undergoes a gradual and progressive increase in structures to enhance the functionality of the fortress. The city of Ascoli Piceno, worried about consolidating the defense outposts located at its borders, soon took possession of it. From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, the Rocca lived alternate events, clashing with nearby castles, especially with Norcia. At the end of the eighteenth century, Arquata will be absorbed in the territory of the Clitunno Department, in the ancient Duchy of Spoleto. During this period, it was partially restored, to house a stable military garrison, becoming the third fortress of the Trasimeno Department, until it returned under the Papal States. Continuous interventions make the structure suitable for military uses. At the end of the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Sacconi, as director of the Conservation Office in the Marche and Umbria Region, undertook an important restoration. The ruins of the fortress were reconfigured according to medieval forms, taken by analogy from the repertoire of fortifications in the Apennine area. A further conservative intervention was carried out in 1990 to allow a new use. Unfortunately, the seismic events in 2016-2017 have compromised the Rocca, with large collapses that currently make the complex unusable. The intention is to undertake new restoration work, setting up a school construction site; this could represent a virtuous example to favor the rebirth of Arquata del Tronto, so strongly hit by the earthquake, through a project for the enhancement of its architectural heritage.

Archaeology and documentary research: the first bastioned fortifications of Alacant (Spain)In the Courts of the Crown of Aragon held in Monzón (Huesca, 1528) it was raised the need to organise the coast defence of the Kingdom of Valencia through a series of fortification works and the creation and maintenance of militias in order to avoid the attacks and incursions of the Turks and the Berber corsairs. In Alacant (1533), under the auspice of the Duke of Calabria, viceroy of the Kingdom of Valencia, and the design of Joan de Cervelló, noble, military and engineer of King Carlos I and with great experience in artillery and fortification of cities, three bastions were built taking advantage of the medieval walls: Sant Francesc, Sant Bertomeu and Sant Sebastià. These improvement works on the walls continued with the rise of two more towers that protected the gate (Puerta del Mar or Montserrat). The bastions had a circular plan and an escarp elevation up to their half and vertical until the crowning, besides a low armed parapet. They were demolished because of the urban renovations that Alacant experienced during the nineteenth century. However, the historical planimetry, engraving images and photographs, as well as the archaeological excavations carried out in them allow to know their morphology and materials, which are explained in this paper.

The fortified palace of Ibn Ḥafṣūn and its ḥuṣūn-abwāb. The supposed ḥafṣūní architecture and the oriental models in western MalagaNew interpretative approaches are raised about ḥafṣūní architecture based on the archeological data in the medieval city of Bobastro and its most immediate castles, all located in the limits of the municipal terms of Ardales and Alora, to the northwest from the capital of Malaga. We focus our attention on the palatine complex built by Ibn Ḥafṣūn during the Umayyad emirate and we present numerous nearby fortress, which has allowed us to first approach the knowledge of the defensive system that protected the medieval city. Among the recent evidence of the ḥafṣūní palace, as a result of this study, structural and ornamental elements are discovered that derive from the classical tradition, but they are unknown by local structures and must respond to the influence of the Syrian-Byzantine model.

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).

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.

[EN] The fortified system executed on the north bank of the Strait of Gibraltar from 1939 pursued two objectives: an offensive one, for which coastal batteries and lighting projectors were installed; and a defensive one, for which around four hundred reinforced concrete bunkers were built for machine guns and / or anti-tank guns along the coastal strip that runs from San Roque to Conil de la Frontera. According to the military archive documentation, the device for the defense of the land front and against landings on the coast was organized into four subsectors, designated with roman numerals from east to west. Subsector IV, the westernmost, extends from Barbate to Conil, through Vejer de la Frontera. Divided into two resistance centers, it is the one that contained the lowest density of positions, with a total of twenty-seven pillboxes. This communication has a double purpose. On the one hand, deepen the territorial implantation of the bunker network of Subsector IV, to understand that is fundamental the systemic conception between them and between them and the whole set of bunkers. Secondly, to carry out an individual and specific architectural analysis of each one of the works, focusing on the constructive characteristics and the existence of possible typological relationships., Esta investigación forma parte del proyecto HAR2016-78113-R del Programa Nacional de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación dirigido a los Retos de la Sociedad, financiado por el Mº de Economía y Competitividad, y los FEDER.

The Atalaya Castle (eighteenth century), in Cartagena (Region of Murcia, Spain). Formal and constructive analysisThe Atalaya Castle (eighteenth century) is one of the military fortifications that were part of the defense of Cartagena. The defensive system of the period was composed of an important walled enclosure, which surrounded the city, the arsenal, and a group of fortresses outside the city wall, located on the nearby hills. One of these defensive constructions is the Atalaya Castle or Fort, located to the west of the city from its position it protected the population from attacks both by land and by sea. To the north and west by land, through the Almarjal and the Pelayo mountains, the south by sea covered the possible landings in the bays of the Algameca Grande and the Algameca Chica. The building is a magnificently construction, the fort has a pentagon ground plan with five bastions at each angle. It has an interior building in U arranged on a solid bastioned platform the whole complex is surrounded by a dry moat. The fortification present certain formal elements used in other constructions that had been lifted in the city at that time, circumstance gave unity to the whole. The materials consisted of employed mainly stone and brick, the constructive elements introduce certain heterogeneity. The purpose of the communication is to present the results of the comprehensive analysis carried out in the Atalaya Castle as well as to contribute, through its dissemination to raise awareness of the need for its restoration and enhancement. Research has studied the characteristics of the formal and constructive system of the fortification currently in a state of semiabandonment, a proposal has also been conducted for a new cultural use as a guarantee of its correct recovery and conservation.

[EN] The aim of this work is to present the results obtained in the framework of the PREFORTI Project. The particular case analysed is the damages caused by earthquakes in the medieval fortifications of Almeria and the consequences on their conservation. Almeria is a zone of important seismic activity. This particularity has caused many problems to conserve its Islamic military architecture. Within this work, we include the most important earthquakes that have affected this heritage since the late fifteenth century and the constructions damaged –to a greater or lesser extent– by them, including their specific damages and an approach to their state of conservation. Due to its importance within the military constructions, we present the case study of the Alcazaba of Almeria and the wall of La Hoya, focusing on the second one. These paradigmatic constructions were widely affected by the earthquakes since the late fifteenth century. Beyond the analysis of the damages caused by the earthquakes and the different historical restorations to mitigate them, we include the emergency measures proposed in the framework of the PREFORTI Project for its better conservation against the different risks, as well as the microzonation mapping of the natural seismicity risk for the section of the wall of La Hoya in order to delve in the study of the vulnerability of this cultural asset against this natural risk, as a mechanism for its better preventive conservation., Este estudio forma parte del proyecto I+D+i PREFORTI (BIA2015 69938-R) titulado “Metodología sostenible de conservación y mantenimiento de fortificaciones medievales de tierra del sudeste de la Península Ibérica. Diagnóstico y prevención ante riesgos naturales y antrópicos” financiado por la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).

A network of castles: the Irpinian fortified systemIn Irpinia, to grasp the extent to which the multiform and varied castellated density still has today, it is necessary to look at its hilly and mountainous landscapes or read the toponyms of its villages: from the recent study carried out in the Province of Avellino, there is a list of 78 castles still visible in elevation, a very high figure if you consider that the entire provincial territory is composed of 118 municipalities, for a percentage of almost 70%. The period of study in which this research is based on Irpinia's fortification (castles, walls, towers and defensive walls) is part of the period in which the various foreign dynasties conquered the Regnum Siciliae giving rise to a military architecture which goes from the Longobard domination (568-774) to the advent of the Normans (1130-1194) and the Swabians (1194-1268), to retrace the phases of the coming first of the Angevins (1268-1435) and then of the Aragons (1442-1503).

The territorial relations system between the fortifications of the inner Cilento. A proposal for study through GISThe landscape of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, south of Campania, is dotted with a wide variety of fortresses, castles, towers and all kinds of fortifications. The populations who settled there since the early Middle Ages have left traces of their presence through buildings that, from the initial purpose of independent defense of the individual settlement, have changed over time, especially in the Norman period, in a broader system and structured for the control of the territory. The diversity of the architecture that we still find today, determined by the different origins of the fortifications (sometimes Lombard, sometimes Norman, up to the coastal towers built in the Angevin-Aragonese period to defend against Saracen incursions), however, hides a complex system that connects these artifacts, creating a network that covers large portions of the territory. It is not easy today to recognize such relationships and rebuild this network that has in fact laid the foundations for the current layout of the Cilento landscape. The aim of the research is therefore to study, recognize and map this structure through the use of historical maps and direct relief. Starting from the portion of the territory related to the area of the Ancient Cilento, identified by the Monte della Stella Massif, we intend to start a mapping of the fortifications through GIS in order to provide the tools for the study of the geometries and territorial relations that were established between the different settlements, and how these were placed with respect to the surrounding territory. The use of the territorial information systems will also allow a systematic data collection that will open the way for a subsequent phase of survey and documentation of the artifacts scattered over the territory, through which it will be possible to create a typological abacus of the fortifications related to the different historical phases.

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.

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.

Bairén fortress archaeological park. A valorisation project within the context of designing new politics of heritage tourism for the city of GandiaThis work emphasises the cultural value of archaeological heritage through the design of an archaeological park at the Islamic fortress of Gandia. The city, heavily tight to traditional tourism visitors, attracted by climatic easiness and beach facilities, tries now to develop an alternative course of action in order to complement its offer. Therefore, a wide project has been designed so as to put all the efforts together and get present a complete valorisation project within the current renewal dynamics regarding tourist local products. Beyond heritage and tourism, this text focuses on the importance of research and innovation in heritage politics driven by municipal institutions.

Historical and cartographic research about the ghost domus built by Frederick II in Principatus et Terra Beneventana regionDuring his reign Frederick II built a series of representative fortified constructions in southern Italy, and after reinforcing the defence line of the border with the State of the Church, he decided to build many residential estates called domus or palacium in the fundamental medieval textual source of Statutum de reparatione castrorum. This research is focused on the study of the landscape in the ancient region of Principatus et Terra Beneventana during the thirteenth century: it is noticed the presence of five imperial domus cited in the Statutum with the name domus Castellucci Battipallae, castrum et palacium Sarni, domus imperatoris in Ebulo, domus imperatoris Apicii and the Castel Belvedere Marano palace. Every domus was studied through a historical and cartographic analysis, and in case of the structure is not recognised on the territory it was organized a landscape analysis in order to propose a hypothetical position. The data that was gathered into ArcGIS software to define the probable locations of the ghost domus were the detailed routes of ancient roads related to the positions of the casalia (little rural communities that paid taxes to maintenance of the royal structures), the Church properties, the urban site, and the other castra and domus.

[EN] In the Middle Ages a chain suspended between two towers defended the entrance of Kyrenia’s little harbour, like the chain across the Golden Horn in Constantinople. William de Oldenburg, who visited Cyprus in 1211 during the reign of King Hugh I, referred to Kyrenia as “a small town well-fortified, which has a castle with walls and towers”. He perceived the chain tower as part of Kyrenia’s fortification system in that time. The Byzantines had already fortified the city, but in the thirteenth century, during the Longobard war, before the siege of the city, Frederick II’s party, under the direction of Captain Philippo Genardo, improved the defences of the city. The chain tower is still visible today in the north side of the old Kyrenia harbour. It consists of an 8,15 m diameter cylindrical tower and a 1,5 m diameter pillar on top of it. The tower was supporting a chain attached on the other side to another structure. The fortifications on the north side terminated against the harbour in a square tower or bastion holding the chain to be raised and lowered by means of a windlass. The paper includes the digital photogrammetric survey of the chain tower using a structure from motion software, the historical research and the comparison with other coeval harbour defence constructions of the eastern Mediterranean.

The walls and moats of the city of Otranto. An integrated three-dimensional survey for studying the architectural and archaeological evidenceThe system of fortifications that rings the old town of the city of Otranto (Puglia, Italy) conserves the still visible traces of structures belonging to various historical periods, attesting to the evolution of the settlement’s defensive system from the Messapian period (fifth century BC) to the Aragonese period (sixteenth century). As part of a recent urban renewal project targeting the area of the moats, new archaeological, historic and architectural investigations were conducted. These included a painstaking analysis of the circuit of defensive walls and the broad and deep moat, which contains valuable archaeological and architectural evidence that has never before been studied. The use of advanced surveying technologies such as 3D Laser Scanners, parametric and georeferenced, enabled a holistic, synoptic and comparative reading of the structures, recording the distinctive features, building techniques, materials, alignments, range of thicknesses and losses of continuity in the walls, all of which are necessary for a correct identification of the construction phases. In addition, the data arising from the study and three-dimensional survey of some subterranean tunnels, entirely excavated in the rock in the area of the moats surrounding the Aragonese castle, have also enriched the framework of knowledge regarding specific military and defensive dynamics.

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.

The castle of San Luis (Estepona Málaga): Origin and evolution of a bastion fort. Sixteenth to twenty-first centuriesThe results of the investigation prior to the excavation work in the Castle of San Luis, in Estepona (Málaga, Spain) are presented. It is a coastal fortress built in the last quarter of the sixteenth century, in the context of the reorganisation of the defense of the western coast of Malaga after the Moorish rebellion of 1568. After analysing the available literature, we propose that it was designed by the Engineer Juan Ambrosio Malgrá, Maestro Mayor de obras del Reino de Granada. The Castle of San Luis is devised as an add-on construction on the southern front of the walls of Islamic origin, dominating the natural anchorage of the Rada beach. Its most prominent elements are three bastions, two of them with casemates, and a large main square. However, various defects in the design and execution of the works, added to the insufficient provision of artillery and garrison, affected the effectiveness of the fortification throughout its history. In the middle of the eighteenth century, part of the Castle of San Luis is restructured as a cannons’ battery. Following the damage caused by the Lisbon Earthquake, in 1755, and by the French and English blastings in 1812, during the second half of the nineteenth century much of the castle disappears, leaving only the cannons’ battery, which is incorporated as a courtyard in height as an add-on to a house built at the end of the nineteenth century. At present, after several decades of abandonment, excavation works have been undertaken on the remains of the battery, after which the site will be prepared to be used as a museum.

Reinterpreting the layout of Granada’s ziri coracha in the light of new archaeological data This article talks about the archeological intervention carried out in Concepción de Zafra street n°3 of Granada next to the Darro river. The house uses the perimeter wall East of Nasrid Maristan. Under this wall another tapial wall was discovered and possibly belonging to the coracha of the eleventh century.

The paper will investigate the fortifications erected by private entities in rural areas throughout the Stato da Mar territories of the Republic of Venice. While the state structures are definitely more studied, the private Venetian defenses of the territory are mostly ignored from a comparative discussion encompassing a larger area. The defenses constructed by the noble families differ in type and layout, depending on their location and destination: there are inland tower houses in Crete designed to control the territory against native uprisings, and there are seaside castles in Dalmatia that are also considering naval raids. We will analyze these private Venetian defenses in their variety and importance for their regions and the Republic.

The “typical towers of the kingdom” in Terra d’Otranto: characteristics and constructive differencesTo those who travel through Puglia from the Gargano down to Capo di Leuca and from here to the Bradano, it impossible not to appreciate the variety of the coastal landscape that is characterized, from north to south, by the almost constant presence of fortifications. In particular, this presence becomes more concentrated and more perceptible in Terra d’Otranto, where the coastal cities are reduced to only the fortified strongholds –Brindisi, Otranto, Gallipoli and Taranto– while the landscape is characterized by the persistence of traces of over 80 towers. However, they cannot all be traced back to the same age and present themselves with different dimensions, materials and construction techniques. These differences are attributable to not only factors concerning when they were constructed, but above all related to the coastal orography where they are located as well as to the availability and ease of finding materials. In Terra d’Otranto there are five different types: a polygonal plan; “A priest’s hat”, circular towers, some of which are known as “towers of the Otranto series”, quadrangular-based towers with monumental stairs identified as towers of the “Nardò series” and, the most numerous, quadrangular-based towers noted as “typical of the Kingdom” towers. The latter, in particular, are recognizable by the formal and constructive styles adopted not only in the census towers in Terra d’Otranto and/or in the rest of Puglia, but on all the Mediterranean coasts affected by the general fortification plan ordered by Carlo V implemented by the Viceroy Don Parafan de Ribera, Duke of Alcalá. The proposed study intends to elaborate on the morphological characteristics and the constructive differences of this widely diffused typology and in particular to investigate the peculiarities of the “typical of the Kingdom” towers present along the coasts of Terra d’Otranto, the problems of conservation and use, as well as the relationship with the inland organisms and the role played in defining the landscape.

From Medieval Islamic Wall to Bastioned Land Front: Genesis and evolution of the Land Front of CeutaCeuta is built on a peninsula at the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a strategic point for communications between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and between two continents: Europe and Africa. As Ceuta ships rule the Gibraltar Strait in Medieval and Modern Ages, main defensive efforts were tuned of to Land Front. Consequently, in 950 ‘Abd al-Rahman III built a new fence in order to protect the madina reusing Roman and Byzantine fortifications. Although repaired and enlarged by Almohads, Marinids, and Portuguese, these walls and towers protected the Land Front of Ceuta until the sixteenth century. But, at this moment, pirobalistic artillery development had made this defensive device obsolete and a new bastioned front, an early and outstanding example of the new Renaissance ideas for the defense of the cities, was built. Archival documents, cartographic sources, etc., let us follow the main lines of this evolution. Recently, an archaeological research project has added new data on how this evolution, from Medieval to Renaissance fortifications, took place.

[EN] The seventy-nine castles in the care of English Heritage Trust (EHT) are some of the most visually stunning and historically important in the world. In recent years, EHT has explored new ways of sharing the histories and stories of these properties with local communities and with domestic and international visitors. This paper presents a review of these approaches, outlining the ways in which the Trust has applied different methodologies to castles within certain areas of operation, such as Interpretation; Digital Content; and Conservation. It assesses the self-reflection of EHT staff members from some of the organisation’s operations as to how certain strategies and approaches have met the expectations of both the EHT and its target audiences. It outlines approaches to sharing our passion for these properties which were not heavily reliant on significant monetary investment, for instance examining how to re-interpret castles in the context of a challenging economic climate. It assesses some of the philosophies behind the decisions made as well. These reflections are examined in the context of a new castle interpretation project currently underway, at Warkworth Castle in Northumberland, England. They are presented to our international colleagues with the explicit desire to share our experiences and improve our industry’s approach to the interpretation of humanity’s rich castle heritage.

Biar's Castle intervention. Consolidation of a ruin as a possibilist alternative in the defense of heritageConsolidation of ruin and didactic recovery of the castle's profile dominating the landscape. Almohad fortress that should have been recorded at the beginning of the powerful existing tower, surrounded by a protective wall with adarve, all on steep rocks. The fortress is transformed over time, being in service as a defense between Muslim Spain and Christian Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, to later, be a point of friction between the Kingdoms of Castilla and Aragón, remaining active until the mid-sixteenth century, with an intervention in the nineteenth century during the Carlist wars. Is located on the top of a hill at 745 m altitude, next to the town. The orography marks a deep slope to the northeast, more than 100 m high, while to the west, falling towards the population, the slope is smoother. Because of its situation, the castle has a very important visual impact, so landscape considerations acquire a special meaning. The intervention is partial on the second walled enclosure and in total ruin, proposing an eloquent restoration that allows to approach its complex history and the construction techniques used, within a strong economy of means in the project and subsequent maintenance. We can restore the image of the courtyard, its spatiality and know the remains of existing buildings. Both, the remnants emptying of crashes, and the restoration of the traces of the internal walls, the various heights of the walls and their guard steps, allow us to understand the whole along the time. The undoubted visual and landscape interest of Biar Castle is a relevant aspect of the intervention.

Multidisciplinary integrations: history, survey and representations of the castle of Palmariggi in Terra d’OtrantoThe contribution integrates historical readings, conducted through archive documents and iconographic materials, with surveys and graphical analyzes carried out through direct knowledge of Palmariggi’s historic center in Salento. The imposing Aragonese castle of which today only the two cylindrical towers remain, joined together by a stretch of perimeter masonry, initially presented a quadrangular plan with four corner towers, of which three are cylindrical and one is square and was surrounded by an existing moat, until the middle of the twentieth century, with a wooden drawbridge on the eastern side. The fortress was part of a strategic defensive system, designed to protect the village and the productive Otranto’s land with which it was related. The fortified Palmeriggi’s center represented an important defensive bulwark placed within the network of routes and agricultural activities that led from the hinterland to the port of Otranto, where flourishing trade took place. The research examines the changes undergone by the defensive structure that has had several adaptations made initially in relation to changing military requirements, resulting from the use of firearms, the upgrades that were supposed to curb the repeated looting and the military reprisals against the inhabited coastal and inland centers of Salento peninsula, and later social that led to the expansion of fortified village with Palazzo Vernazza’s (eighteenth century) adjacent construction and the original parade ground’s elimination. Summing up, the contribution in addition to documenting the current situation with integrated surveys, the state of preservation of fortified structure with its village, of which it examines the urban evolution based on the construction, typological and morphological systems, relates to the surrounding territory by comparing the plant of the ancient nucleus with that of neighboring fortified Salento’s centers. Finally, digital study models allow fortified structure’s three-dimensional analysis, its construction techniques, assuming the original shape.

Geometries of the gaze in the Calabrian landscapeHaving lost their function of sighting as an instrument of strategic control, inclusion and protection from presumed pirate invasions, the coastal towers of Calabria Ultra, represented in the Diary of Wonders of the end of the sixteenth century, called Codice Romano Carratelli, will act as the key and device of the gaze that links the land to the expanse of water. A vast geometric, precise and linear system that will connect, through the gaze, the “terracqueo landscape”, unstable and multiform, continuously changing. The ninety-nine watercolour maps of the Codice are an immense heritage of clues, traces, geometries and measurements on which to think in order to bring to the surface of the earth, military tactics that have become latent in history as a palimpsest. The use of ancient and modern techniques of survey and graphic representation, want to accompany the contemporary traveler to turn his gaze towards new strategies of “reception”, rather than aversion of a silent landscape, where merge and mix. The “stratigraphies of the gaze” are sections perpendicular to the “horizontal plane” of a “living” landscape from which routes, artefacts, signs, traces, fragments of history can be distilled for a widespread cultural regeneration of the territory. The experimental character of this research, recounted in these pages, lies in the application of an innovative strategy of communication and information, based on the creation of cultural routes structured in museums, widespread or located on the coastal landscape of Calabria.