Publication Date:
2020
abstract:
The architect and military engineer Pedro Luis Escrivá (1490 ca. - sixteenth century), at the service of
Charles V of Habsburg and the Viceroyal Court of Naples, built two bastioned fortifications designed to
considerably influence the subject of territorial defense structures: The quadrangular Spanish Fort of
L'Aquila (1534-1567) and the reconstruction of the Sant'Elmo Castle in Naples (1537), with an elongated six-pointed stellar plan, served as a reference point for the European and American fortifications of
the period. Due to its size and versatility, the model adopted in L'Aquila was widely used in the Latin
American context between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. It is found in countries that were Hispanic colonies such as Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay; as well as in the Hispanic domains of the United States and in some of the dependent territories of the Portuguese crown, in
Brazil. Based on a historical-architectural and contextual analysis of these structures, the effects of the
"cultural transfer" between Europe and America will be investigated with respect to the model devised
by Escrivá to promote its cultural valorization.
Iris type:
04.01 Contributo in Atti di convegno
Keywords:
Pedro Luis Escrivá; fortifications in America; Spanish Fort of L'Aquila; bastioned fortress
List of contributors:
Giusto, ROSA MARIA
Book title:
Defensive Architecture of the Mediterranean, edited by Navarro Palazón, J. and Luis José García-Pulido Vol. XII, 1319-1326.