The Fort of Bernia by Giovanni Battista Antonelli

Abstract

This paper deals with the relationship between geometrical rules and proportions as design techniques for military architecture proposed by the engineer Giovanni Battista Antonelli during the late sixteenth century. After a short introduction about the Antonelli family of engineers, the paper focuses on a case study, the Fort of Bernia near Alicante (Spain). The study of the original drawings and reports on the building preserved in the Spanish national archives has been a fundamental means of gathering details about the defensive structure. Additionally, a three-dimensional survey carried out on what remains of the outpost allowed a careful analysis reconstruction of its history and the geometrical proportion of its parts. In conclusion this project, a perfect example of geometrical design for a defensive purpose, represents Antonelli’s total failure as a military engineer, because his too strict adoption of the theoretical model in a mountainous site contradicted all the considerations made in his treatise on modern fortification.