La protección contra los corsarios: el recinto fortificado de Mascarell

Abstract

Along the sixteenth century, Valencian coasts used to suffer continuous attacks by Berber pirates, which brought an extensive network of watchtowers to warn against the invaders. In the case of Mascarell, a small town located 4km away from the coast, a walled enclosure with two doors and four towers is the option to ensure the safety of its inhabitants. Many restoration works have been developed along the time; although they were not always according to preservation criteria at the earlier periods, other good later preservation policies have been established like the special protection plan for the old quarter, the reconstruction of the fallen pieces, and the intervention in rebuilt areas with brick in the seventies, trying to recover the old enclosure appearance, with a variety of native technique of wall called Valencian Tapia. About the wall first construction, the contract of works of 1553 is preserved, which is not only an excellent source of knowledge about the its history and its constructive features, but also it shows the danger of periodic invasions since the contract establishes the need to guard the site before starting the wall works every day.