Una iper-mappa del Castello di Ischia a supporto della lettura del contesto antropizzato: nuove ipotesi sulla configurazione di un ambito urbano

The Aragonese Castle of Ischia is notoriously inaccessible from several points of view. The research in progress offers continuous reflections on the precious architectures hosted in it, thus improving knowledge from historical, morphological, evolutionary and constructive points of view. They also offer a wide range of case studies on which to experiment methodological approaches to issues specific in the Drawing sector. The systematic digitization of the fortified promontory, integrated with historical-documentary studies and GIS applications, is leading to a reconsideration of some relationships between urban areas: in particular, between the current southwestern configuration and the detailed survey of Castle dating from the second half of the 16th century by the royal engineer Benvenuto Tortelli. The focus is on the quadrant that houses, in descending order of height, the remains of the Cathedral of the Assumption, the current panoramic terrace (the native churchyard), the Piazza d’Armi and the Aragonese fortifications. The results of the digital surveys demonstrate how accurate and reliable is the precious cartography of more than four centuries ago, especially in relation to military architecture. The representation of the quadrant mentioned, however, is not very close to reality and this raises some questions, including a lesser interest of Tortelli in that urban area or a building reconfiguration during the centuries following the XVI. Therefore, referring to the study of built space, architecture, city and territory, the aim of the study is the construction of a digital context hyper-map, from which information can be read not isolated but linked and able to stimulate knowledge and research.