NEGRO TOWER: DOCUMENTATION, CONSERVATION, and RESTORATION

Abstract

The Negro Tower or Arráez Tower, in El Algar (Cartagena, Spain), dates from 1585. This tower was part of an extensive network of watch and defense towers built along the coastline of Murcia between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is an inland rural tower, in visual contact with the coastal towers. Its objective was to receive and transfer warnings from onshore towers to protect the population, especially farmers. The tower is protected as a monument but is currently in a dilapidated state of conservation. Therefore, this building has been chosen as the object of an integral study, which can serve as a reliable basis for its correct conservation and restoration. Through historical analysis, light has been shed upon the evolution of the Tower from the social, cultural, and architectural points of view. The graphic documentation has been made using digital photogrammetry and a 3D laser scanner, compatible with classical topography. Based on all this information, an integral project of consolidation and volumetric recomposition of the tower has been proposed. As a result of this research, we intend to contribute to the conservation and recovery of the heritage value of the Tower, as well as the integration of the historic monument in its natural environment.