The integrated fast survey for the risk assessment. A proposal for the safeguarding of the medieval castles in central sicily

Abstract

The integrated survey carried out with both several technologies for the acquisition of metric data and information on materials and degradation pathologies, and procedures for data processing, offers the opportunity to be aware of the state of conservation of the built heritage following a procedure compatible with the protection and enhancement needs. The survey, if carried out in a quick way thanks to the recent videogrammetry software, ensures new and fruitful procedures for the cataloguing of monumental complexes for the purpose of risk mapping. Actually, the data captured by UAVs, together with the information obtained by the terrestrial measurement campaigns, if undertaken by the appropriate processes and the necessary skills, are an effective survey methodology for the criticality assessment of isolated architectural sites, like the strong medieval buildings which are still visible in the province of Enna, Sicily. Mostly abandoned and in the state of ruin architectures, which stand away from road infrastructure networks, they are often located in areas affected by depopulation, and risk to be forgotten and to disappear due to the inexorable passage of time. This work, through several case studies on relevant castles, wants to illustrate a project aimed at the knowledge and documentation of these important testimonies of the culture of the island, which only if suitably safeguarded and controlled would become the nodes of a widespread and sustainable tourist system, accessible to a wider public.