The Fortifications of Nafplio

Stavros Mamaloukos, The 15th c. Venetian Fortifications of Nafpaktos (Lepanto), Greece, Ángel Benigno González-Avilés (ed), Defensive Architecture of the Mediterranean. XV to XVIII Centuries, v.6 FORTMED 2017, Alacant 2017, 153-160, 2017

The aim of this paper is a preliminary study of the Venetian fortifications of Nafpaktos (Lepanto) within the context of the 15th century defensive architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. Throughout the 15th century the Most Serene Republic of Venice strived continuously to reinforce the fortifications of the Lepanto, a Venetian holding from 1407 to 1499. Apart from some interventions carried out for the reinforcement of the walls of the medieval Upper City, the building from the ground up of the Lower City’s fortified enclosure, intended to protect part of the older suburbs and the extremely important for the Venetian State city’s port, are dated to this era. The enclosure was built in phases, in a typical 15th century manner, a period marked by the continuous improvements of artillery and the corresponding improvements of fortifications in response to them. The earlier parts of the fortifications had the typical form of medieval fortifications, with a rather thin wall, with vertical faces, reinforced with rectangular towers. The subsequent phase consisted of parts of the walls and bastions that have an inclined outer face (scarpa) and a thick parapet with the serrated crenellations, often equipped with early type cannon-ports. The later parts of the defenses with bastions (bastioni) with a distinctive truncated cone shape, crowned with thick parapets (parapetti) over a rounded cornice (cordone), and vaulted cannon port on the lower levels, belong to the last development phase of fortifications around 1500, right before the final adoption of the “bastion system” (fronte bastionato) in the second quarter of the 16th century.

Conference FORTMED 2015, Valencia, October 2015

FORT 46, 2019

This paper is intended to provide a short history of one of the most dramatically-sited Venetian fortresses in Greece, a site which still dominates the town of Nauplion immediately below it. The chain of mainly Venetian fortifications above Nauplion encapsulates the history of artillery technology as it improved throughout the period c. 1463-1821.

According to the developing defence techniques, the Venetian redesigned Nicosia walls in the Xvi cent. to protect the city from the Ottoman attacks. The Italian engineers Francesco Barbaro and Giulio Savorgnan conceived the new fortifications dismantling the older ones and reusing the stones of many other buildings. The plan has a stellar shape with eleven bastions, hendecagonal, so to have the Cathedral of S. Sofia in the middle, as in the ideal city of Renaissance times. The upper half of the wall section slopes like a pyramid, a shape more suitable for the protection from artillery. The walls were built from 1567 to 1570, surrounded by a deep ditch, about 80 mt. wide, supplied with the water of the river Pedeios, deviated from its course across the city. During the IV Ottoman-Venetian war (1570-1573) the city was seized and catpured by the Ottomans. The paper analyses the phases of the Venetian walls, considering the traces of the previous ones, by comparing them with other coeval poligonal forticiations, and with the indications provided by the treatises of architecture of the XVI century.

Understanding Ancient Forti cations: Between Regionality and Connectivity, 2018

Extensive fortifications enclosing settlements constitute an essential archaeological feature of early Latin history. These fortifications are a clearly tangible manifestation of a turbulent historical period which was shaped by a constant sense of imminent danger felt by the early inhabitants of the region, posed either by hostile neighbouring populations or other unknown external threats. The construction of defensive works also reflects the settlers’ collective efforts who worked together for the realisation of common goals that benefited the entire community: The protection of their homes and the preservation of their natural and cultural resources as well as their livelihoods. This article’s primary goal is the presentation of the Early Iron Age fortifications of Gabii, their general layout, features and design. Possible motives which may have prompted the construction of the fortifica- tions will also be discussed. Finally we would like to point out the general effects these defensive measures must have had on the communities they protected. We propose that Latium’s Iron Age fortifications were built primarily to protect and defend areas which were at least partly in agricultural use. They were therefore one of the precon- ditions for the development of urban settlements.

P. RODRÍGUEZ-NAVARRO (ed.), Defensive Architecture of the Mediterranean XV to XVIII Centuries, International Conference on Modern Age Fortifications of the Western Mediterranean Coast - FORTMED (Valéncia, 15-17 October 2015), Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València, Valéncia 2015, 2015

The essay, as part of a more extensive scientific research, aims at evaluating the theoretical and technical issues linked to the active conservation of fortified heritage in ruins present on the Italian coast. Through the analysis of some exemplary projects, the study will describe the relationship between the architecture and the context, deal with the theme of the absence (lacuna) and the relative interventions, reflect upon the different ways of interpretation and reinstatement, look into the design and management of the vegetation and, last but not least, define strategies and processes for a planned preventive maintenance of these important testimonies of the past.

According to the developing defence techniques, the Venetian redesigned Nicosia walls in the Xvi cent. to protect the city from the Ottoman attacks. The Italian engineers Francesco Barbaro and Giulio Savorgnan conceived the new fortifications dismantling the older ones and reusing the stones of many other buildings. The plan has a stellar shape with eleven bastions, hendecagonal, so to have the Cathedral of S. Sofia in the middle, as in the ideal city of Renaissance times. The upper half of the wall section slopes like a pyramid, a shape more suitable for the protection from artillery. The walls were built from 1567 to 1570, surrounded by a deep ditch, about 80 mt. wide, supplied with the water of the river Pedeios, deviated from its course across the city. During the IV Ottoman-Venetian war (1570-1573) the city was seized and catpured by the Ottomans. The paper analyses the phases of the Venetian walls, considering the traces of the previous ones, by comparing them with other coeval poligonal forticiations, and with the indications provided by the treatises of architecture of the XVI century.

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Defence Sites Heritage and Future (Defence Heritage 2016)

The present article illustrates an interdisciplinary methodology for the protection of fortified old towns and the management of their possible future transformation. Specifically, the study has developed a process of investigation to support the identification, assessment and conservation of material evidences related to the urban walls inside old towns. The disciplinary fields involved in the research are mainly history, drawing and restoration, supported by diagnostics on materials and structures, urban planning and sustainable design. The testing area is the walled city of Cagliari, a typical Mediterranean fortified settlement, highly stratified with a wide chronology of structures and interesting military constructive techniques. The research develops a working structure for the reasoned collection of contributions belonging from different disciplinary fields. The complex set of information implements a detailed knowledge plan conceived as a vulnerable risk map. Landscape and visual perceptions of the surrounding environment are also considered. The complex mosaic of interdisciplinary knowledge has been the basis for the proposal of effective policies for protection in order to forecast, guide and control possible transformative scenarios. Contemporarily, the management plan includes some strategic actions for the fruition and enhancement of the walled perimeter, such as new touristic paths or entertainment and sporting areas. Criteria and methodology resulting from this article seem to be easily applicable to other contexts, especially in the Mediterranean settlements.

Late Venetian Fortification, 2019

2017

The fortification "a la moderna" of Pisa in the Modern Age was not made, as in other Tuscan cities, with the construction of a new bastioned front, but strengthening the pre-existing medieval walls. The construction of the new front was developed between the 16th and 17th century in two different phases. In the first phase, starting from the mid-16th century, a few of small bastions were built in some strategic points of the medieval circuit. Only in the first half of the 17th century, the defense system was completed by the military engineer Gabriello Ughi, with demilunes and outworks in earth. The new defense system, demolished in the late 18th century, is described only in a series of historical maps and archival documents. This paper therefore aims at proposing the first results of a study on the 17th century fortification project, starting from a graphical analysis of the historical maps, in order to understand the design choices in the light of the progress of defens...