Architettura militare, la linea difensiva di Messina durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Dati per l’ampliamento del progetto GIS sull’area peloritana

World War II had a profound impact on the city of Messina, strategically important for its location overlooking the Strait and its control over a wide area of the hinterland, leaving a legacy of destruction and resilience. Starting from these premises, the research focuses on the defensive structures built in the Messina territory during the conflict. First, the anti-aircraft defence systems, such as bunkers and Tobruks, and those of anti-aircraft defence, such as pits and listening walls, were identified and analyzed. The different types of outposts and their respective construction techniques, their integration/camouflage with the territory, as well as their strategic impact along the numerous foothill access routes related to the particular orographic configuration of the peri-urban area were then examined. This study is part of a broader work started in November 2023 by LAB6R of the Department of Engineering UniME, with the aim of monitoring and cataloguing the minor and widespread building heritage. The activities used advanced geomatic technologies, such as laser scanners and drones for the correct morphological restitution and spatial georeferencing of the surveys, further enhanced in precision by GPS equipped with an RTK module. The data thus obtained were entered into FileMakerPro19 for the implementation of the database to support the territorial analyses carried out in the QGIS3.38 environment. The method described so far is a best practice for the knowledge of the context and the verification of the advancement of the state of degradation of the specialized building, proving to be fundamental in view of the programming of conservation interventions of the traces present. The virtuosity pursued by the project is, finally, the most complete possible preservation against the slow and inexorable loss of the identity of non-monumental and specialized historical construction.