UAVs for the visualization, preservation, and sharing of “lost” eighteenth century fortified system on Monte Urpino hill in Cagliari (Italy)

A photogrammetric survey with the use of the drone is been applied in the study of the historical military landscape of Cagliari and of its disappeared architectures whose traces are preserved in the current urban context; it is possible to identify original position, consistency and elaborate a digital representation of these works thanks to a methodology structured on the following several phases: analysis and comparison of historical maps and study of other archival documents, integrated digital survey with UAV’s application supported by field verification of traces detected, elaboration of the digital model from which to extrapolate 2D and 3D drawings useful for further analysis and hypothesis, representation and dissemination of the results

Il disegno dei baluardi cinquecenteschi nell'opera dei fratelli Palearo Fratino: la piazzaforte di Alghero

La ricerca affronta il tema del disegno dei baluardi nell’opera dei fratelli Palearo Fratino, ingegneri militari al servizio della Spagna nella seconda metà del XVI secolo e si struttura attraverso tre principali fasi: la prima analizza il disegno del fronte bastionato nel corso del Cinquecento, la seconda esamina l’attività progettuale di Jacopo e Giorgio Palearo nel Mediterraneo ed in particolare in Sardegna, mentre la terza si propone attraverso l’utilizzo dei risultati provenienti dalle prime due fasi di ricerca e con il supporto dei dati offerti dalle ricerche di archeologia postmedievale, di elaborare alcuni modelli digitali di opere progettate e non realizzate o non più esistenti della piazzaforte di Alghero. Il metodo di ricerca adottato trova nell’analisi grafica lo strumento di indagine conoscitiva, capace di fornire informazioni e rilevanti risultati a supporto dell’indagine storico-archeologica. L’analisi della trattatistica militare è rivolta in particolare al testo “Della fortificatione delle città” del Maggi e Castriotto, citato da Jacopo Palearo come testo di riferimento nella progettazione dei baluardi di Cagliari. Analizzati i progetti, eseguito il rilievo di alcuni tratti rappresentativi di opere realizzate, si è individuato un repertorio che ha evidenziato l’impiego (attraverso l’uso di soluzioni costruttive e modelli ricorrenti adattati in relazione alle preesistenze ed al sito) del trattato del Maggi e Castriotto a conferma di quanto dichiarato da El fratin. I dati provenienti dall’analisi della trattatistica e delle opere hanno infine costituito la base di riferimento per l’elaborazione dei modelli digitali relativi ai progetti redatti nel periodo 1552-1578 per la realizzazione delle fortificazioni di Alghero e consentito di approfondire la conoscenza del disegno degli ingegneri militari e dell’attività progettuale dei fratelli Palearo Fratino. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The research analyzes the design of the bulwarks in the work of the Palearo Fratino brothers, military engineers in the service of Spain in the second half of the sixteenth century and is structured in three main phases: the first analyzes the design of the bastion during the sixteenth century, the second examines the design work of Jacopo and Giorgio Palearo in the Mediterranean and especially in Sardinia, while the third proposed (through the use of results from the first two phases of research and with the support of the data offered by the post-medieval archaeological research) digital models of projects planned and not completed or no longer exist structures in the fortified town of Alghero. The research method adopted in the analysis is graphical tool hearing, able to provide relevant information and results to support historical and archaeological investigation. The analysis of the military treatise is directed in particular to “Della fortificatione delle città” of Maggi and Castriotto, cited by Jacopo Palearo as a reference text in the design of the bulwarks of Cagliari. Projects analyzes, and the relief of some sections of representative works, has identified a repertoire that highlighted the use (through the use of constructive solutions and recurring patterns in relation to the existing and adapted to the site) of the treaty of Maggi and Castriotto to confirm what was stated by El fratin. The data obtained from the treatises and works have finally formed the basis for the development of digital models of the projects drawn up in the period 1552-1578 for the construction of the fortifications of Alghero and allowed a better understanding of the design of military engineers and of the project activity of the Palearo Fratino brothers

Design models and "attention" to the topography of the places in the sixteenth strongholds of Sardinia: the use of the tenaille

[EN] The present contribution proposes, through some representative digital models and graphical schemes, some technical aspect that characterizes the work of Jacopo and Giorgio Paleari Fratino, military engineers in the service of Philip II of Spain in the second half of the sixteenth-century. Matrices and geometric models directly extracted from the military treatises, in particular from the text Della fortificatione della città wrote by G. Maggi and J.F. Castriotto and published in Venice in 1564, are skillfully adapted to the topography of the places and lead plastic solutions that optimize resources and respect of architectural design of modern fortifications. A research set on the graphical analysis of archival documents, examination of military treatises, survey of the existing structures of Sardinia and a comparison with the works realized in the Spanish strongholds of the Mediterranean area that confirms and emphasizes the phrase, attributed to Paleari and reported in historical archive documents, that reiterates to acompagnar las obras con la naturaleza del sitio (execute the works according to the topography of the places).Pirinu, A. (2015). Design models and "attention" to the topography of the places in the sixteenth strongholds of Sardinia: the use of the tenaille. En Defensive architecture of the mediterranean: XV to XVIII centuries. Vol. I. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 279-286. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2015.2015.1707OCS27928

Towards a digital database of Sardinian II WW military heritage: a first repertoire in the territory of Cagliari

The paper illustrates the decisions behind the creation of a digital database of military architectures built in Sardinia during the Second World War. This stylistic repertoire is characterized by an interesting historical-cultural and landscape value and composed by more than 1.500 artifacts positioned along the coast of the island to protect the major urban centers and the areas of strategic interest. A correct recovery and enhancement of these historical heritage necessarily needs a previous activity of knowledge and cataloging entrusted to integrated survey methods where digital and traditional tools works together to define an updatable and interoperable graphical model. The database become the place where studying these “stubborn ruins” also comparing geometry, materials and construction technique adopted in other countries. The need for mimesis has required an adaptation of the typological solutions designed by the Italian Military Genius and indicated in the archive documents offering interesting case studies. The first results of this path of knowledge is a complete catalog of small bunkers placed in the east sector of the territory of Cagliari, within the Natural Regional Park of Molentargius-Saline.El artículo fundamenta las decisiones la creación de una base de datos digital de las arquitecturas militares construidas en Cerdeña durante la II Guerra Mundial. Este inventario de obras se caracteriza por su interesante valor histórico-cultural y paisajístico y está compuesto por más de 1.500 artefactos posicionados a lo largo de la costa de la isla para proteger los principales núcleos urbanos y las áreas de interés estratégico. Una correcta recuperación y puesta en valor de este patrimonio histórico necesita necesariamente de una actividad previa de conocimiento y catalogación confiada a métodos integrados de levantamiento donde las herramientas digitales y tradicionales trabajan juntas para definir un modelo gráfico actualizable e interactivoble. La base de datos se convierte así en el lugar donde estudiar estas “ruinas obstinadas” y comparar geometrías, materiales y técnicas de ejecución adoptadas en otros países. La necesidad de mímesis de estos búnkeres con el territorio requirió de la adaptación de las soluciones tipológicas diseñadas por el Genio Militar italiano e indicadas en los documentos de archivo que ofrecen interesantes casos de estudio. Los primeros resultados de este camino de conocimiento es un catálogo completo de pequeños búnkeres situados en el sector Este del territorio de Cagliari, dentro del Parque Natural Regional de Molentargius-SalineUniversidad degli Studi di Cagliari, Universidad de Alicant

Graphical Documentation of the Historical City of Cagliari (Italy)

The documentation of the urban historical heritage is the preliminary step to identify the correct strategies for its protection and enhancement. To achieve this aim it is necessary to acquire a graphic documentation at the different scales of detail required by a multi-layered system as the historical landscape; this complexity can now be explored integrating traditional and digital survey methods and representation methodologies. Traditional methods, in particular, are characterized by a direct contact with places; this condition guarantee a deepest perception and a total immersion in the landscape integrating and giving quality to the considerable amount of data offered by recent technologies; this approach has been applied in the survey of the historical city of Cagliari in which the medieval districts of Marina, Stampace, Villanova and Castello retain a great part of the modern walled system built since the fourteenth century until the first half of the nineteenth century and a lot of interesting buildings designed for civil, public and religious use

Ricostruire il paesaggio storico e la memoria dei luoghi. Le opere difensive nell’agro meridionale di Cagliari attraverso una relazione descrittiva del 1707

On 1st August, 1707, the Patrimonial Council of the Kingdom of Sardinia approved the contents of the report drawn up by Don Manuel Bellejo, Prince of Tapia, regarding the interventions to be carried out in the defensive works ion land to the south of Cagliari. The so-called War of Succession to the Throne of Spain, fought by land, sea and on several continents, put a strain on the military sector of the various states. The port cities assumed strategic importance, as evidenced by the investments made in strengthening the strongholds of the Kingdom. The danger of invasion of Sardinia was  evident in the report of Don Manuel, who identified a weak point of Cagliari in the territory between the promontory of Sant’Elia and the Villanova district. With an ideal bird’s eye-view , Bellejo accompanies the reader through the anti-invasion garrisons, ringing places, natural features, and  paths, illustrating the defensive works inspected or necessary. The wealth of details allows to relocate the ancient garrisons on historical and current cartography and to reconstruct the conformation of the territory. For this purpose, the maps and military projects produced between the 16th and 18th centuries are fundamental aids. The comparison between ancient maps and today’s aerial photogrammetry provides solid tools for the study of the document, which opens an interesting window on the Cagliari of the time: a short, but intense historical phase that narrowly precedes the great transformations of the Savoy era.Il 1 agosto 1707, il Consiglio Patrimoniale del Regno di Sardegna approva i contenuti della relazione redatta da don Manuel Bellejo, principe di Tapia, riguardante gli interventi da realizzarsi nelle opere difensive a meridione di Cagliari. La cosiddetta Guerra di Successione al Trono di Spagna, combattuta per terra, per mare e su più continenti, mette a dura prova il comparto militare dei vari stati; le città portuali assumono importanza strategica, come testimoniano gli investimenti destinati anche alle piazzeforti del regno sardo.Il pericolo di invasione della Sardegna traspare con chiarezza dalla relazione di don Manuel, il quale individua nel territorio compreso tra il promontorio di Sant’Elia e il quartiere Villanova un punto nevralgico di Cagliari. Con un ideale ‘volo d’uccello’, Bellejo accompagna il lettore attraverso i presidi antisbarco, inanellando luoghi, emergenze naturali, percorsi ed illustrando le opere difensive ispezionate o da realizzare. La dovizia di dettagli consente di ricollocare gli antichi presidi sulla cartografia storica e attuale e di ricostruire la conformazione del territorio. A tal fine, sono di fondamentale ausilio le mappe e i progetti militari prodotti tra Sei e Settecento. Il confronto tra le cartografie antiche e le aerofotogrammetrie attuali fornisce solidi strumenti per lo studio del documento, il quale apre una interessante finestra sulla Cagliari dell’epoca: una breve, ma intensa fase storica che precede, di poco, le grandi trasformazioni di epoca sabauda

Riconoscimento e tutela di un complesso monumentale storico in ambiente urbano mediante l’integrazione di metodologie di rilevamento e di tecniche geofisiche non distruttive: l'area di Santa Croce nel quartiere Castello a Cagliari

Developing a protocol for the multidisciplinary investigation of historical monumental complexes in urban environments covers a paramount role in protecting the architectural and landscape heritage. To this purpose, integrating the investigation methodologies typical of architecture with the geophysical ones has proved useful in assessing the conditions of the places and of the works, so as to identify and represent their modifications. Comparing data from different disciplinary contributions (historical, archaeological and geophysical ones) has specifically allowed the organisation and assessment of an investigating protocol aiming to the representation, protection and valorisation of the bastion layout; in particular, it has contributed to define its stylistic architectural features, and improve knowledge of the military work operation and of its current layout, even in view of any further planning intervention in an area where, furthermore, the realisation of a parking lot buried at the basis of the 16th century bastion is being considered

Integrated methodologies for the knowledge, representation and protection of historical military architecture. Construction systems and vaulted paths along the western bastions of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy)

[EN] The integrated method is been applied in the meet point between the curtain of Santa Chiara and the curtain of de Cardona, in a limited area of the ancient walls of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). The sector consists of a bastion called “curtain of Santa Chiara” designed in 1575 and realized in the period 1575-1578 by the military engineer Giorgio Paleari and the “curtain of de Cardona”, a military work commissioned by the Viceroy in the 1930s of the same century and interested by modification until the seventeenth century. The archive documents offer a lot of informations on the presence of gunboats and vaulted passages designed and built in this area during this period. This source –accompanied by an architectural survey of the existing military work and the knowledge of the construction techniques used at the time and indicated in the military treaties– may direct a subsequent investigation with geophysical methods. To this aim, a first graphic representation of the study area in the sixteenth century is proposed.Pirinu, A.; Bagnolo, V.; Argiolas, R.; Utzeri, M. (2020). Metodologie integrate per la conoscenza, la tutela e la rappresentazione dell’architettura militare storica. Sistemi costruttivi e percorsi voltati lungo i bastioni occidentali di Cagliari (Sardegna, Italia). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1343-1350. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11378OCS1343135

El “Muro Mediterráneo” en el territorio de la Marina Alta: búnkeres y baterías de la Guerra de España (1936-1939)

[EN] In 1936-1939 the War of Spain took place, turning its territory into the testing ground of Europe in anticipation of the Second World War; here new weapons were tested: mass media, propaganda and aviation. The national side used Mallorca as “aircraft carrier” from which it launched airstrikes on the Mediterranean coast: a rearguard that required fortification. To defend the cities, the Republican government ordered, in 1937, to build a coastal defensive system (“Mediterranean Wall”). On the Valencian coast there were ten basic enclaves: from the lighthouse of Castellón to the end of Santa Pola. This network of defenses had two built lines. The first was constituted by elements located at zero level, by the sea and on the beaches, which maintained regular distances from each other; these were reinforced concrete bunkers that sought to camouflage themselves. A second was formed by coastal and antiaircraft, concrete and masonry batteries that merged with the land, located in the hills to have a wider horizon and be closer to its objectives. Bunkers and batteries that followed geometric patterns in constant evolution. This communication studies the defensive settlements built by the Republican army in the cities of Xàbia and Dénia (Marina Alta), which had a port, airfield and armament factories, which made them the target of enemy aviation. In these territories many of these architectures have disappeared under real estate pressure, but there are still several bunkers, batteries and ammunition deposits that are intended to be inventoried and documented (especially the 7th of the Montgó and the 8th of the Portixol batteries) to insert into of the tradition of historical military forts (typological genealogies) and their understanding as a networked defensive system that maintains parallels with the system of coastal towers of the system of coastal towers of the Modern Age.Martínez-Medina, A.; Banyuls I Pérez, A.; Pirinu, A. (2020). El “Muro Mediterráneo” en el territorio de la Marina Alta: búnkeres y baterías de la Guerra de España (1936-1939). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1263-1270. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11338OCS1263127

Utopia and reality: from Plana Island to the foundation of Nova Tabarca

L’enginyer Méndez de Ras elabora, del 1766 al 1779, els projectes que transformen l’illa Plana en el poblat de San Pablo de Nueva Tabarca, que evolucionen en definició urbana, arquitectònica i tècnica. Del conjunt de dibuixos s’analitzen quatre plànols de gran rigor i qualitat gràfica. El primer (1770) explica el plantejament militar i l’abast territorial. El segon (1771) projecta les illes de cases per a la població. El tercer (1774-75) desenvolupa un ampli programa de construccions civils. I el quart (1779) desplega la totalitat del programa urbà i militar. La successió cronològica palesa la idea que tota la plaça fortificada és un artefacte bèl·lic i una cisterna de pluvials simultàniament. Aquesta utopia dibuixada, en què ciutat, arquitectura i aigua formen una unitat, xoca amb l’obstinada realitat de la natura: un plànol del 1789 descriu l’estat final i ruïnós de les obres executades.The engineer Méndez Ras developed, between 1766 and 1779, the projects that transformed Plana Island in the town of San Pablo de Nueva Tabarca, which evolved in its urban, architectural and technical definition. Four planes of great rigour and high graphical quality are analyzed from the set of plans. The first one (1770) explains the military approach and territorial scope. The second one (1771) designs residential areas for the population. The third one (1774-75) develops an extensive program of civil constructions. And the fourth one (1779) unfolds the entire urban and military agenda. The chronological succession evidences the idea that the whole fortified square is a warlike artefact and a rainwater cistern simultaneously. This drawn utopia, in which city, architecture and water form a unity, collides with the obstinate reality of nature: a 1789 plan describes the final and ruinous state of the executed works.Universitat d'Alacan