Analisi e conoscenza del sistema fortificato della costa dell'alto Tirreno calabrese

The paper focuses on the knowledge of the coastal defensive architectural heritage located in the area of the high Tyrrhenian Calabrian. The considered sector is a unitary but widespread system, in which a common historical and cultural matrix is evident. The study, through historical information and formal and material-construction analysis, highlights the vast compositional landscape of coastal towers. By examining the architectural and constructive characteristics, with particular attention to the XVI century ones, it aims to present a significant survey of the analyzed area, in which historical built heritage is always related to the widespread presence of towers and castles. In fact, during the domination, both for orographic and defensive reasons, the ancient urban centers were traditionally located a few kilometers from the sea, positioned halfway up the first hilly chain that closes the territory at East. The analysis, starting from the basic features spread throughout the South of Italy, aims to highlight the varying and invariant features of a coastal stretch rich in architecturally relevant elements. The heritage, which represents an architectural system and an expression of a Mediterranean coastal identity, is not well preserved and valued. Only knowledge of these singular examples of military architecture can generate processes of preservation and regeneration of a local identity. .