Fortezza Vecchia in Livorno

Abstract

From the Middle Ages, the high rocky promontory where Livorno castle stood overlooking a wide expanse of sea was a strategic point for the defence of the entrance to Porto Pisano. Its unique, commanding position between the settlement and the sea was conducive to its development as a favoured site for defence of the area. First the Pisans, and then the Florentines chose this site to direct port activities, and over time erected a series of fortified works which are still embedded within the walls of the Fortezza Vecchia. It was Antonio da Sangallo the Elder who drew up the plans for the fort under the supervision of his brother, Giuliano. It was built between 1519 and 1533 with the aid of an array of expert engineers. The fort is a capacious, enveloping structure with irregular, unusual architectural lines. The original geometric shape, as deduced from treatises, was modified and shaped to account for the nature of the site and pre-existing medieval structures.

New 19th Century Defensive Architectural Contributions in Egypt: The Bastion System (Historical and Archaeological Considerations)

“…The engineer had to learn to set out the angles, slopes, and sides exactly to obtain the required protection [24]. The Italian military Engineers took up the ingenious and perennial challenge with attach and defense systems, and use the concept of Aristotle by which; " just as assailants are concerned with finding the means to prevail, so also those who defend themselves have found some and must find and devise others" [17,25]. So for the protection and wellbeing of the states, it was important to design the bastion, to replace the fortifications with the huge thickness of walls, which were not even this enough.…”

“…So for the protection and wellbeing of the states, it was important to design the bastion, to replace the fortifications with the huge thickness of walls, which were not even this enough. From here; the military architects have proposing many new defensive designs [17]. Between 1540 and 1570, the architects were heavily in demand throughout Europe to help and supervision the new fortifications; replacing obsolete medieval city walls with bastion style fortifications.…”

“…The fundamental feature of the new system -bastion-of constructions was; "the relationship between its parts is comparable to that of the component parts of a geometric design" [17]. For this; any deference affects the whole as in the geometric continuum of the perspective and The connect between the bastions and the curtain walls allow the cannons to eliminate the blind points and offer only an oblique and not frontal exposure to attacking fire, deviating its direction and dampening the dynamic force [17]. Thus, the so-called bastioned form as a geometric design it was shaped a continuous system and was very appropriate, especially when compared to the artillery bases used at the time because this system has no any blind points or angles [18].…”

“…(1). Very quickly with the development of firearms and fortifications, bastions style which its function was to direct fire against enemies [16] became obsolete and had to be rebuilt [17] and it can be said that; these military principles and requir-ements were very clear in the mind of Mehmet 'Ali, the founder of the modern Egyptian army. So, the primary goal is revealing the architectural origins of the bastion and it characteristics, which came from Europe to the military architecture in Egypt during the French campaign against Egypt (1798-1011) [6] and became the distinctive architectural component of the military architecture in the era of the Mehmet 'Ali since 1805.…”

Reconstruction of Lost Architectural Volumes by Integration of Photogrammetry From Archive Imagery With 3-D Models of the Status Quo

“…The construction of the Fortezza Vecchia included an existing fortification, known as Quadratura dei Pisani, built in the second half of the 14th century to strengthen an existing medieval keep. The pre-existing structures, as well as the orographic condition of the site -surrounded by the sea -deeply influenced the construction of the fortress, which entailed several irregularities and dissimilarities from the ideal regular shape as theorized by Renaissance military architectural theories (Ulivieri 2014).…”