A 3D integrated survey of fortified architectures. The medieval Canossa castle

Castles are complex fortified systems based on a solid relationship between the territory and the built architecture. The former defines the context of development, access, and defense conditions. The latter adapts to the context, proposing fortified structures in continuity with the orography of the territory. Both factors are crucial to understanding castles’ historical evolution and social roles over time. In this knowledge path, the survey process assumes a primary role as a tool to analyze and interpret the built environment through bibliographic and iconographic analysis and the study of reality. Within the castle domain became essential to manage multiple scales of knowledge, acquisition, and representation, deepening the territory and the fortress systems. The case study analyzed is the Castle of Canossa, the epicenter of some critical events in medieval times. The authors describe an integrated survey process between active and passive techniques at architectural and territorial scales. Several geometrical validation steps have been introduced to verify the geometrical reliability. The pipeline highlights also the crucial relationship between territory and buildings, laying the groundwork for a more articulated analysis of the entire architectural complex. At the end, a superimposition between the geometrical model and a historical mock-up is suggested, collecting helpful information for the next reconstruction step.