A denied fortress. The Sorrento castle and the transformations of the urban landscape

Sorrento historical centre stands as an urban palimpsest, characterized by stratified forms of architecture, ancient infrastructures and a complex natural landscape. It has undergone, over the centuries, to many urban interventions which have left traces in the history and on the architectural heritage. Although the city was equipped with walls and towers since the Roman period, it was in the 15th and 16th centuries that they were modernized and partially rebuilt because of the new needs of the artillery and in order to better resist to the Saracen attacks. The Sorrento castle is part of this global strategy. It was built in 1459 by the Aragon King Ferrante I on the south-east side of the fortifications and transformed during the following centuries, as it can be seen from the rich iconographic documentation about the town. In 1799 it was damaged by French during the Neapolitan Republic while a few years later a restoration plan was proposed by the municipality. The advanced state of ruin of the castle and the public requirement for a larger square led to the final demolition in 1842. This event left a deep trace in Sorrento urban history and represents – as Max Dvořák stated about the XIX century city walls demolition phenomenon – the origin of the transfiguration of the modern city. In Sorrento, the destruction of the castle and the denial of the fortification system – which underlines the indifference to the historical architectural heritage and the lack of a wider conservation policy – corresponded to deep and drastic changes at urban scale. Because of these considerations, the paper deepens the knowledge of the castle by analyzing the construction and the following transformations of the building, through the study of the iconographical and archival sources. In particular, the 19th century demolition project will be highlighted as a turning point in Sorrento urban development, by changing irremediably the strong relationships between architecture and historical landscape