A Geometrical Analysis of the Layout of Acaya, Italy

The analysis of the urban fabric contained within the city walls of the town of Acaya, made possible by a new integrated survey involving manual, topographical, photogrammetric and 3D laserscan techniques, has cast doubts on the conventional attribution of the city layout to Gian Giacomo dell??Acaya. A rectangular layout consisting of six blocks divided by six longitudinal streets and three lateral streets is indicative of a medieval date. The geometrical analysis shows how the site of the ancient town of Salappya was transformed by Charles I d??Anjou in 1273, renaming it Segine, and how, in about 1500, Alfonso dell??Acaya enlarged the city and its walls according to the same proportional criteria. In 1536 Gian Giacomo dell??Acaya succeeded his father as Baron, redesigning the city walls in order to make them suitable lines of defense against firearms, renaming the city Acaya.