The potential of defensive architectural heritage as a resource for proposing cultural itineraries

Abstract

PurposeHeritage landmarks and historical values often coexist with places and regions of remarkable environmental and landscape wealth. This article studies their capacity to generate global understanding of their territory through the creation of cultural routes. The proposed methodology is verified through the study of the defensive features of the ancient Nasrid Kingdom, the last Islamic territory in the Iberian Peninsula from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, which shaped the Spanish region known as the Kingdom of Granada until the nineteenth century.Design/methodology/approachTo assist in the proposal of new routes, a precise collection of physical data (topography, landmarks, resources, population centres …), existing public paths and protected natural sites was carried out. Those cultural routes relevant to the area of study were also selected and mapped through GIS. A set of indicators prioritised through an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) have evaluated the proposed itineraries.FindingsThe methodology enables the integral evaluation of parameters such as natural heritage, existing paths networks, defensive architectural heritage (watchtowers), existing cultural routes or proximity to basic services. The methodology's application allows an index to be obtained that quantifies the global implications of these parameters in the design of new itineraries. This leads to the development of a network with its own narrative that provides a historical, environmental and cultural meaning.Originality/valueWatchtowers in this region have previously been studied as isolated and locally relevant architectural features. This work studies them from an overall perspective, considering each tower as a piece of a complex defensive and territorial system. Cultural routes arise from this joint interpretation as tools to restore and highlight the interrelationship between architectural heritage and territory and people.

Historic public paths in rural areas: engine of development and origin of new conflicts

“…However, we also need to provide solutions to conflicts over uses between different social and economic actors in rural areas. This has been highlighted in previously mentioned studies (Ruiz-Jaramillo et al. , 2021; Torre et al.…”

“…In the strictly academic field, we have noted an emerging and diverse repertoire of research performed in the last decade that studies the role of drovers' roads specifically from an agrarian and environmental perspective (Oteros-Rozas, 2013), new social uses of greenways (Luque-Valle, 2011), the economic and social impact of sports trails (S anchez, 2014;FEDME, 2012), and even the impact of the Camino de Santiago (Morales, 2017) and cultural routes in rural areas, as well as their impact on socioeconomic development (Monz on, 2017;Ruiz-Jaramillo et al, 2021). Some of this research has been performed in the field of geography in an attempt to identify and enhance the value of historic public paths in the service of new tourism activities (Luque-Gil, 2003).…”

Defensive Architecture of the Mediterranean Vol. XIV (FORTMED2023)

“…Ahora bien, desde el punto de vista de la intervención arquitectónica, las nuevas metodologías aplicadas al estudio e investigación del patrimonio construido basadas en la aplicación de tecnologías novedosas, pero a su vez, suficientemente contrastadas, han proporcionado excelentes resultados, arrojando información sustancial que permite conocer en profundidad el bien sobre el que se va a intervenir. Su aplicación a las diferentes torres atalaya que formaban el sistema defensivo del reino nazarí de Granada ha suministrado datos que, superando el propio interés del conocimiento sobre técnicas constructivas medievales o acerca del estado de conservación en que se encuentran, permiten su interrelación directa con la información arqueológica, posibilitando una compresión integral de estas estructuras (Ruiz-Jaramillo & García-Pulido, 2018).…”