Difendere la Terra d’Otranto. Le torri di avvistamento della Serie di Nardò

This study presents the results of a reflection on the valorization of coastal towers and their surroundings. Although very valuable in terms of architecture and landscape, they nowadays are abandoned and in an advanced stage of decay. This research starts from the different typologies proposed by Vittorio Faglia in 1973 in order to classify the costai towers of "Terra d'Otranto", including seven towers called "Serie di Nardò". Their distinctive role was established by studies and surveys: they were constructed both for coastal protection from pirates and the Turks and for the defense ofagricultural production. The area surrounding Nardò had a rich ofoil and wheat production: it was considered the principal source offood supply in the Salento regi on. The towers were central pieces of a complex communication and trade network with the fortified farms ofthe surroundings becoming the first line of defense. Nowadays this connection with the tenritory is lost; many towers are abandoned and decayed. The present work proposes, in the framework of a thorough revitalization of the entire area, some intervention guidelines on the restoration of Torre Santa Caterina. In this project the latter would become centrai to the promotion of locai food and wine culture, reinterpreting these spaces as a communication canal that would remind the historical link between agriculture and the coastal towers. The idea would therefore be to articulate the conservation of the built environment with the introduction of some services such as a farmers' market where producers and consumers could meet directly, placing the towers at the center of a complex network of events aiming at the promotion ofthe territory. The study calls for further research on this type of architecture. It also demonstrated the importance of conservation and restoratiton of landmark architectures for the region 's sustainable development.