Il castello Ursino a Catania: la costa scostata.

In 1669 there is the first of two catastrophic events affecting eastern Sicily and in particular the city of Catania, the other will be the earthquake of 1693. The fortified perimeter of the city included the Ursino castle, as an outpost that guarded the walls along the south side. It was wanted by Frederick II of Swabia in the twelfth century. The manor was on the sea, maintaining this position for 400 years, counted among the military structures of the island. The situation is clearly described in the military maps and those of the city of Catania prior to 1669. The lava flow of that year reaches the sea from the west side of the city and laps the perimeter of the castle, shifting the coast line by a few hundred of meters. Together with the coast line, the relationship between the castle, the city and the territory is also redesigned. The military garrison changes its function becoming in fact a fortification within the city. The area to the south and east removed from the sea, is built starting from the events of the earthquake of 1693, according to a free scheme of its blocks that represent an exception for the new orthogonal scheme of the city, conceived after the earthquake. In this work, still in progress, we propose a re-reading of the meaning of the castle and its relationship with the city before and after the lava flow of 1669 and the earthquake of 1693, using the tools of drawing and representation, starting from the surveys made with direct methodology, photogrammetric, SFM, digital.