TIBURZIO SPANNOCCHI IN THE SERVICE OF PHILIP II.DESCRIPTION OF THE MARINAS OF THE WHOLE KINGDOM OF SICILY

Tiburzio Spannocchi1, a military engineer from a noble family in Siena, worked from 1572 in the service of the Spanish Crown, initially in Sicily and from 1579 directly in Spain, where he designed various fortifications on the border with France, particularly in the band between Aragon and Gipuzkoa, Cadiz and several castles later built in America from his projects. Throughout his professional life, he maintained a great closeness to the Crown and was appointed Chief Engineer of the Kingdom in 1601. We can divide all his enormous graphic production into three large groups, the drawings of geographical information, the analysis of the environment, and those for tracing or repairing the fortresses. In this article, we will analyse the drawings made for the catalogue of Sicilian marinas and ports commissioned by Marco Antonio Colonna, viceroy of Sicily, for which he made an excellent and detailed description of the island's marinas. These included topographic and census data accompanied by drawings of the coast, cities, ports and their castles or defence towers.