Resumen de Los sistemas defensivos de la ciudad de palma y su influencia en el desarrollo de la trama urbana en los siglos xvii al xix
Miguel Santiago Oliver Monserrat
This thesis analyzes the influence of the defensive systems and the military architecture on the urban pattern development of the city of Palma from the 17th to the 19th century which coincides with the construction and demolition of the city wall. This research comprises the study of the city walls as well as the interior urban planning and the colonisation of the exterior spaces around the city. By using historical cartography of the city, we have worked with graphical models to evaluate the effect of the various military actions in the urban framework of Palma.
In 1596 the first map of the bastioned wall of the city of Palma was drawn, which has been conserved until today. This representation contains the proposed enclosure by Giacomo Fratin. The study of the city defenses of Palma throughout the 17th and 19th centuries starts with this document and it also deals with the repercussion its implementation had on Palma’s town planning. The wall enclosing the city is an example of an irregular bastioned construction, drawn up for the defense of the city. It bases its effectiveness on the crossing of fires from the flanks and it comprises a series of exterior, auxiliary and complementary construction works in order to guarantee its operation and adaptation to the new artillery. The construction of successive enclosures around the city impacted on the growth and development of Palma thus influencing urban planning both inside and outside the enclosure. All easements and necessary requirements for the construction and the functioning of the defensive system conditioned their environment, transforming the location where they were implemented and adapting to the intrinsic military defense. The analysis of the walls covering the urban environment has been conducted taking into account the topography and the previous interventions, the bastioned models prevailing in Europe in the 16th century as well as the geometric and dimensional relationship between the different elements which make up the system.
Within the urban pattern, the construction activities altered the normal operation of the city, incorporating a new and external element to the list of buildings indicative of a city. Barracks, hospitals, arsenals or warehouses are some of the buildings the military had in place within the city to service the defenses. In addition to these supportive buildings, required for the war machine operation in which cities and its walls had been transformed into, engineers carried out other planning activities within the urban environment. Throughout this period, the most remarkable measure was the diversion of ‘la Riera’. This intervention, proposed during the construction of the walled enclosure, had a key role in the development of the city and the transformation of its road infrastructure.
On the exterior, once past the city walls, the streets of Palma on their way to the villages were transformed into roads that would later connect the capital with different points of the island, converting them into axes which would provide a structural link between the exterior defence and the current city centre. The new defensive elements would establish themselves in the territory, in a specific location and designated role within the system designed and implemented to protect the city. In addition to this role, these defensive enclaves would turn into colonizing elements of the exterior area performing the double function of providing security as well as demanding the required services for its operation.
Due to their role they have become participating agents in the transformation of the exterior urban planning of the city.
