La Cittadella di Mondovì (Cuneo): testimonianze superstiti e nuovi documenti

Abstract

[ES] In Mondovì Piazza (the higher part of the city near Cuneo) the Citadel is an example of fortification from the Sixteenth century that can still be recognized nowadays; inside it the transformations that were realized during the following centuries can still be identified too. It was realized by Ferrante Vitelli, general superintendent of the fortresses, on behalf of the duke Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia from 1573. Its construction entailed the demolition and the incorporation of the pre-existing buildings, among whom the San Donato Cathedral, that was transformed in knight. While the shape of the perimeter of the Citadel was little changed during the following centuries and is easily recognized in the higher part of Mondovì Piazza, the buildings inside it were heavily modified, until they reached their current forms. The recent finding of archive documents led to certify the intervention of the First Ducal Engineer Amedeo di Castellamonte who, between 1675 and 1682, worked on the enlargement and restructuring of the pre-existing architectures on behalf of the second Madama Reale, Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia-Nemours. The transformations realized according to the design of Castellamonte, that heavily affected the Citadel designed by Vitelli, can still be recognized and find their confirmation in a rich iconography only partially known, that can now lead to new and original interpretations.