Ars Adriatica, No. 7, 2017.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/ars.1378
Gunpowder Magazines (polveriere) in the Forts of St Nicholas and St John in Šibenik
Ivo Glavaš
orcid.org/0000-0001-9576-6495
; independet researcher
Abstract
In the early modern forts of St Nicholas in St Anthony’s Canal and St John above Šibenik, the only fully preserved elements are the gunpowder magazines. This paper focuses on the typology of Venetian gunpowder magazines (polveriere), analysing those in St Nicholas’ fort and the central part of St John’s fort. The gunpowder magazine in St Nicholas’ fort has hitherto been erroneously interpreted as a prison, whereas the one in St John’s fort has remained completely unnoticed. The gunpowder magazine in St Nicholas’ fort may be approximately dated to the 17th century, even though the drawings preserved at the Municipal Library of Treviso, presumably made by the architect who designed the fort of Giangirolamo Sanmicheli or someone familiar with his design, indicate an area in the lower storey, at the sea level and next to the north-eastern curtain wall, which may have been destined for a gunpowder magazine as no cannon posts were located there. The gunpowder magazine in St John’s fort is visible in almost all known historical depictions and was built sometime between 1649, when the fort was first enlarged after the Ottoman attack two years earlier. The earliest depiction of the gunpowder magazine is from 1658.
Keywords
polveriere; gunpowder magazines; St Nicholas’ fort; St John’s fort; sfiatatori; curtain wall; bastion
Hrčak ID:
191249
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2017.
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