Fortification of Split in the 17th century, from Antoine de Ville to Filippo Verneda

The preservation of Split, as well as of successful trading that took place through the Lazaret, encouraged Venice to hastily approach the modernization of the city's fortifications at the beginning of the War of Candia. A disadvantage of fortifying the city due to its spatial position was pronounced. There were various analyses and proposals, followed by a period of about twenty years, in which several solutions and interventions were implemented for the extension, demolition and construction of various fortification elements. Each of the three elements that defended the city: the fortification around the historic core itself and two separate positions – Cape Bačvice and the heights of Gripe - went through several stages of fortification.One of the reasons for such a variety of works was Venice's attempt to improve the state of the city's defence as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, the military engineers that Venice sent to analyse the state of Split's defence and propose improvement interventions, or supervise the work, were among the best experts of their time, from Antoine de Ville to Filippo Besseti Verneda. Most of the engaged military engineers had their own ideas about which solution would be the most appropriate one, often criticizing what their predecessors proposed or what was done according to those proposals.This paper presents an overview of the most significant analyses or designs by the most prominent military engineers who worked on the key stages of the fortification of Split in the Baroque era, accompanied by a brief critical review of each performed part. Geometrical analyses as such can be applied as a methodological tool for the study of fortifications.