Enhancing the Defensive System of the City of Sagunto

The numerous defensive buildings and sighting towers spread throughout Spain hold great architectural and cultural value. The present research investigates the defensive system of the city of Sagunto, situated to the north-east of Valencia. Many architectural objects, especially the most isolated and least known, are found in a state of degradation that compromises their conservation. The present research begins with a study of the Tower of San Roque. The analysis of the building addresses different levels of reading: production of freehand sketches, photographic documentation of the current state, historical research, surveys using total stations, and realization of CAD elevations highlighting the state of degradation. Drawing is a key element of this work and it functions as a tool to understand, analyse, and document the subject and its context and to record the state of conservation and degradation. A future objective of the research is to apply this same process of knowledge-building to other constructions in the territory surrounding the city of Sagunto and to collect them on a website that can be easily consulted and accessed by all. The objective is therefore not only to enhance and communicate the individual architectural objects, but to enhance them as a whole to shed light on an ancient route of great architectural, historical, and cultural value.