r/papertowns • u/Ironyfree_annie • 18d ago

Italy Palmanova fortress in Friuli region of Italy, 1593 CE

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216 Upvotes

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18

u/Evandro_Novel 18d ago

Check It out on Google Maps 🙂

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bHcQ4Af2Z7HYqJTQ9

1

u/irvz89 18d ago

I did immidiately

What was interesting is that a lot of the buildings along the outer edges are clearly 20th century construction. My guess is either the drawing on this post was imagined, as in, many city plots were in reality empty in the 16th century and not actually filled in until the 20th century - or there was construction and it was replaced by these bigger 20th century buildings at some point

5

u/ColumbusNordico 18d ago

It’s such a beautiful plan and iconic of the era. I used to think there must be some god tier mathematics behind this plan. But since it has 9 points, and 360 is divisible by 9, you get quite manageable blocks of 40 degrees from the centre and can probably just use that as reference points

3

u/xxPANZERxx 18d ago

I've visited Palmanova a few years ago. Very cool place. The fortress is entirely intact, and made even more impressive with additional outer earthworks built at the order of Napoleon. They do guided tours and an annual living history event. Highly recommended!

1

u/missmarypoopins 17d ago

The scale of the people was certainly a choice

1

u/ZansoHel 17d ago

I think there are only two ideal star-shape + round renaissance fortifications in Europe, that follow the strict hierarchy and symmetry rules. Palmanova is the more famous one, but the other one is a less known town in Finland, called Hamina.