Representative strategies and misleading attempts for a digital reconstruction of the Knights Templars headquarter in Paris

Under Capetians patronage, Knights Templars build up in the first half of XII century their principal French commandery in the northern periphery of Paris: the Maison du Temple. The entire complex, composed by rampart walls, a defence tower (Tour de César), a series of buildings set to monastic life needs and a round-plan chapel, was renewed in the XIII century by adding a stunning two-level porch to the western façade of the church, secondly by the erection of a new and prestigious residential tower, the Grosse Tour. Despite the Enclos withstood following the Order abolition in XIV century and the Knights of Malta extended control, it was definitively dismantled by the order of Napoleon I at the beginnings of XIX century after being used as French Crown prison during French Revolution period. Since archaeological surveys carried out in 2011 unearthed just the church chancel apse, not allowing a deep knowledge of commandery’s material appearance, an extensive PhD investigation is pursued with the aim of including different structures in architectural context and including a deep analysis of documentary, graphical and external sources. The attraction produced by Templars abolition and by their vanished structures is certified by the large number of attempts to recreate the commandery forms in lithographs, draws and different 3D reproductions. On this last topic, several reconstructions have been made but innovative considerations and a topographically meticulous model made for an international documentary, with the advice of the author, prompts various reflections on methodologies, choses and aims of representability.