Archeologia della distruzione: i seicenteschi “Castelli del Mare” presso Castelfranco, a Finale Ligure (SV). Individuazione dell’impianto e dei resti di una delle più imponenti fortezze del Ponente, contributo per la salvaguardia e la valorizzazione di un sito fragile e dimenticato

The contribution presents the results of a capillary survey on the area around the fortress of Castelfranco in Finale Ligure, where in the seventeenth century the Spanish forts called Sant'Antonio, dell'Annunciata and di Ligne were built, together with the bastion system that included them. The great complex was largely demolished after the annexation of the Finale to the Republic of Genoa (while Castelfranco was spared). The eighteenth-century demolitions and the recent building speculation have not cancelled out all the physical traces of the fortifications. Many significant remains still survive, submerged by vegetation, scattered over an area of about five hectares. Thanks to these permanences, to an eloquent historical cartography and to the surprising persistence of the fortification lines in the cadastral grid, it is possible to recognize on the ground the shape of the ancient fortress in its complex articulation, and to bring back to an organic system traces and remains of artifacts, otherwise perceived as mere singularity without meaning, exposed to the risk of a definitive removal.