The coastal tower of San Giovanni in Ugento (Le): historical investigations, architectural survey and digital restoration

This paper illustrates an integral investigation of the coastal tower of San Giovanni in Ugento (Lecce, Italy) which, erected in 1565, is the only octagonal plan structure in the entire Spanish Viceroyalty. Its current appearance is the result of various interventions, following which from a watchtower it first became a customs barracks and in 1932 the current lighthouse of San Giovanni. In order to study its sixteenth-century appearance, in addition to a historical/archival study, an instrumental survey campaign was also carried out through the combined use of laser scanners and digital photogrammetry, fundamental for the technical/structural analysis of the property and the diachronic reading of the individual construction phases. The acquired data, many of which unpublished, allowed us to understand the original architectural form of the tower and to develop an accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of the same.