Fortezza Vecchia di Villasimius
| Fortezza Vecchia di Villasimius | ||
|---|---|---|
 East side of the fortress |
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| Creation time : | 14th Century | |
| Conservation status: | essential parts received | |
| Construction: | Natural and limestone - Masonry | |
| Place: | Villasimius | |
| Geographical location | 39 ° 6 '58.3 " N , 9 ° 30' 13.2" E | |
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The Fortezza Vecchia di Villasimius ('Old Fortress of Villasimius') is a small fortress from the 14th century on the south coast of the Italian island of Sardinia . The fortress got its present appearance through renovations and additions in the 16th century, when it was supposed to protect Sardinia from pirate attacks from the barbarian states . The Fortezza Vecchia is located in the municipality of Villasimius in the province of Sud Sardegna .
location
The Old Fortress stands on a promontory above the same named beach Spiaggia della Fortezza on the west coast of the peninsula Capo Carbonara (, Cape Carbonara ', Sardinian Crabonaxa ) at the eastern end of the Gulf of Cagliari . It is located at the level of the brackish water pond Stagno Notteri, 700 meters away, on the east coast of the peninsula. About 200 meters northeast of Fortezza Vecchia is the port of Marina di Villasimius with the adjoining settlement of Notteri. Another settlement, Cala Caterina, begins about 700 meters south of the fortress. The center of the municipal seat of Villasimius is 3.2 kilometers to the northeast.
History and description
The previous building of Fortezza Vecchia belonged to the Carroz family from Castile in the 14th century . During the conquest of Sardinia in 1323/24, the family had made a name for themselves for the Crown of Aragon , which is why the castle was given to them as a fief . At that time Villasimius was still called Carbonara, hence the name of the peninsula with the cape south of the town.
In the 16th century, attacks by pirates from the barbarian states of North Africa increased on Sardinia's coasts. The Kingdom of Sardinia made at that time one of a viceroy managed by-country the Spanish crown under Philip II. After the Conquest of Tunis by his father Charles I (1535) and the unsuccessful naval expedition to Algiers (1541) it was decided to the shores of the island against to secure the constant pirate attacks from the sea, primarily by means of guard towers and defense towers .
The reconstruction of the fortress began in the time of Viceroy Miguel de Moncada from 1578. On the plan of an equilateral triangle with a side length of about 11 meters, walls 10 meters high and 1.20 meters thick were built. From 1590/91 a garrison was stationed in the Fortalesa Biesa de Carbonayre , according to a document from 1599 it was part of the IV. Division from Villanova (district of Cagliari ) to Sarrabus . In 1767, when the House of Savoy ruled Sardinia, the garrison consisted of a commander (Alcaide) and three soldiers who had two cannons.
From 1769 to 1770 the Fortezza Vecchia was restored by the engineer Belgrano da Famolasco and in 1790 by the engineer Quaglia a few small bastions were added in order to eliminate blind spots when shooting with rifles. After further restoration work in 1803, the garrison was able to repel an attack from the barbarian states on July 20, 1812. The pirates had previously taken the towers of the islands of Serpentara northeast and Cavoli south of Capo Carbonara . The fortress remained in operation until 1847 when the last Alcaide, Antonio Zara, was sacked. Then the Fortezza Vecchia fell into disrepair until its restoration from 1968 to 1973 by the Soprintendenza ai BAAAS di Cagliari . In 1987 further work was carried out outside. Today the interior, in which old pictures, graphics, maps, documents and edicts are exhibited, can be visited for a fee of three euros (2017).
- Views of the fortress
Location at cap
North side
Southeast side
South side
Individual evidence
- ↑ La Fortezza Vecchia di Villasimius. Cooperativa Cuccureddus, accessed November 24, 2017 (Italian).
- ↑ Francesco Cesare Casula: The History of Sardinia . Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari 2000, ISBN 978-88-7138-325-5 , p. 38-39 .
- ↑ a b Fortezza Vecchia. Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, 2017, accessed November 24, 2017 (Italian).
Web links
- Fortezza Vecchia. The old fortress of Villasimius. sardinien.com, 2017, accessed November 24, 2017 .
- La Fortezza Vecchia. villasimius.com, October 3, 2015, accessed November 24, 2017 (Italian).