DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS AND POLITICS. THE VAUBAN SYSTEM AND THE CASE OF THE ALBA-IULIA FORTRESS
DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS AND POLITICS. THE VAUBAN SYSTEM AND THE CASE OF THE ALBA-IULIA FORTRESS

Author(s): Elena-Loredana Florescu
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, History, Architecture, Military history, Political history, Security and defense, Military policy
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: fortress; strategic points; military engineer; defence system; political statement;
Summary/Abstract: The Italian fortress of Palmanova, built in 1593 and designed by Gulio Savorgnan represented a turning point in the studies of the military engineers of that time. The French engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, through the fortress of Neuf-Brisach, created the “Vauban defence system”, reminiscing of the layout provided by the fortress of Palmanova, approximatively 100 years later. In this paper I intend to analyse the reason why, in 1711, the appointed architect Giovanni Morando Visconti used the Vauban defence system in designing the Alba fortress in the present-day Romania. Following the political and historical background that led to the building of these fortresses and the strategical points that they represent, I intend to identify the similarities between them and whether following an architecture that is based on the ideal city of Renaissance represents a political statement.

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