Otranto: il rilievo digitale come strumento per l’interpretazione e la ricostruzione della cortina muraria tra Castello e Torre Matta

Numerous studies have focused on Apulian fortifications and the region known as Terra d’Otranto, but the majority of them is focused on castles alone, leaving behind fortified walltracks and their relative system of towers and bastions. One significant structure, the bastion called Torre Matta, located close to the seaside of the ancient city walls of Otranto, was recently made accessible thanks to the POIn MiBACT – Programma Interregionale Attrattori Culturali, Naturali e Turismo del FESR 2003-2013 Asse I. However, since the surveys conducted thus far have not thoroughly explored the external and internal aspects of its adjoining wall, a new analysis has begun in May 2024, as part of the Progetto di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale PRIN PNRR MAP_FORT. Leveraging laser and photogrammetric surveying technologies, this article aims to document the Torre Matta bastion, including its sixteenth-century circular tower and the adjacent wall leading to the castle, while also advancing a reconstructive proposal about its historical phases, as a contribution to the ongoing studies of Otranto’s ancient city walls.