A FORTRESS BETWEEN ARTIFICE AND NATURE: THE LASER SCANNING SURVEY OF THE CASTLE OF PESCOPAGANO AS AN INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT

Abstract. The castle of Pescopagano, a small village located on the border between Basilicata and Campania, is a complex of great historical and landscape value, for the inseparable combination that binds its stones to the rock where it stands. Founded perhaps in the Byzantine times, but certainly renovated and built in its current forms between the 11th and 12th century, the castle had considerable military importance under Frederick II of Swabia. Seriously damaged by the earthquake of 1694, the fortress underwent a partial reconstruction, but ended up suffering further collapses caused by the Irpinia earthquake of 1980, such as to motivate the first interventions of securing and, above all, the application of the listing process. Today the castle is still largely in ruins and is only partially accessible thanks to a limited intervention on the paths. The present research aims at deepening the knowledge of the state of conservation, the damage mechanisms and the previous restoration interventions of the castle, in order to define possible strategies for its restoration and enhancement. The analysis work uses the most advanced laser scanning and drone detection systems, in order to document, as accurately as possible, the complex patrimonial system of the castle. Thanks to the combined use of these techniques, the objective is also to define methods that can be replicated in other contexts where the relationship between geomorphology and construction is so relevant that it jeopardizes the use of any other traditional survey system.