EL PROYECTO IMPERIAL DE FORTIFICACION PARA BUGIA. 1541

Abstract

[EN] The castles of Bejaia constitute quite a magnificent example for researching the evolution of the fortification of the Hispanic Crown during the first half of the sixteenth-century. First of all, a study about the fortifications found by the emperor Charles V after the Algiers expedition (1541) will be exposed. These defenses had been designed by the leadings engineers of the time: Diego de Vera, Pedro Malpaso, Jorge Ruiz de Alarcón, Juan Vallejo and Benedito de Rávena. Charles V and his militaryengineers had to establish themselves in Bejaia, and due to its strategic importance decided to actualize its defenses in the modern way. The basis of the project relied on the “Castillejo”, the “Castillo Grande” and the “Fuerte Imperial”. Therefore, secondly, it will be carried out the study of the type of construction used in these main defensive points, emphasizing the “Fuerte Imperial” as it is one of the first Mediterranean structures constructed after Sant’Elmo in Naples.