Medieval Tower Research Articles

A Methodology to Manage and Correlate Results of Non-Destructive and Destructive Tests on Ancient Timber Beams: The Case of Montorio Tower

Intending to safeguard architectural heritage, the assessment of the health of timber structures is crucial, though challenging, due to the organic nature of wood and to the uncertainties of its preservation state. To this end, useful support is provided by the ICOMOS guidelines, which provide conservation strategies based on thorough diagnosis and safety evaluations. In this context, the study summarized in this paper focuses on the medieval Tower of Montorio, which suffered considerable damage due to the strong earthquake that occurred in those area in September 2003. Its subsequent process of rehabilitation and restoration involved a widespread experimental campaign and the substitution of some timber beams. This circumstance has offered a rare opportunity to study these ancient elements in detail, although they are limited in number. Six beams made of oak and removed from an intermediate floor of the tower were evaluated through a comprehensive approach that included both non-destructive tests (NDT) and destructive tests (DT). Particularly, they were subjected to visual inspections, ultrasonic, sclerometric, and resistographic methods, and destructive four-point bending tests. Overall, the study presented here provides a useful qualitative comparison between them. Results highlighted that relying only on NDT might lead to an overestimation of mechanical properties and that combining NDT with DT is crucial for a more accurate assessment. Therefore, the need to deepen the research on correlations between NDT and DT to obtain reliable values of mechanical properties while respecting the conservation aim was confirmed.

Seismic response and ambient vibrations of a Mediaeval Tower in the Mugello area (Italy)

AbstractThis paper describes the experimental campaigns on the Tower of the Palazzo dei Vicari in Scarperia, a village in the Mugello area (Tuscany) exposed to high seismic hazards. The first campaign was carried out from December 2019 to January 2020, and the Tower underwent the so-called Mugello seismic sequence, which featured an M 4.5 earthquake. Other ambient vibration tests were repeated in June 2021 and September 2023 when another seismic sequence struck the area near Scarperia. These tests aimed to characterise the Tower’s dynamic behaviour under ambient and seismic excitations and check the response of the Tower over time. The experimental results were then used to calibrate a finite-element model of the Tower and estimate its seismic vulnerability. Several numerical simulations were conducted on the calibrated model using the NOSA-ITACA code for nonlinear structural analysis of masonry buildings. The dynamic behaviour of the Tower subjected to a seismic sequence recorded in 2023 by a seismic station at the base was investigated by comparing the velocities recorded along the Tower’s height with their numerical counterparts. Furthermore, several pushover analyses were conducted to investigate the collapse of the Tower as the load’s distribution and direction varied.

Reconstructing the Castle of Alcantarilla, Utrera, Seville, from the 1864 drawings of John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875)

The Castle of Alcantarilla, also known as la Alcantarilla de Alocaz, or even Diego Corrientes after the eighteenth century bandit, is not in fact a castle but a Roman bridge fortified with two towers in the later Middle Ages. While the south tower survives in a lamentably degraded condition, the north tower has been entirely razed. Its history is well-studied by Fernando Bejines Rodríguez, and its general appearance is known from sixteenth and nineteenth century prints. Therefore, in light of this, what is presented here is new research that permits the reconstruction of the Medieval towers, informed by sketches by John Gardner Wilkinson from 1864, which also reveal previously unknown details. This is supported by accounts of other earlier British travellers. An architectural section through both towers is offered as a tool of inquiry to advance the understanding of their internal arrangement.

Assessing historical church tower asymmetry using point cloud spatial expansion

Church towers are key cultural heritage. In theory, towers are vertical, while facade elements are symmetrically positioned around the tower axis. However, during service of a structure, building and lifetime conditions cause deviations, with associated risks. Laser scanning point clouds can be used to assess the structural state but a universal approach was missing. The proposed algorithm first estimates the tower inclination, and tests which multi-axis representation best represents the course of the tower. Next, point cloud spatial expansion recovers relative distances and deviations of facade elements. The resulting procedure was applied to assess two Dutch medieval towers including the Old Church in Delft and the St. Bavo Church in Haarlem, respectively. As results of analysis, significant asymmetry was found with a 1.4° deviation of the multi-modal axis of the St. Bavo Church tower together with variations of 0.1%–1.5% for facade slopes, while 0.1°–3.1° radial deviations were found in the position of the turrets of the Old Church tower.

ON THE PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION OF BATTLE TOWERS 
 OF INGUSHETIA

The relevance of the problem under consideration, in addition to its epistemological interest, is also due to its practical significance. A large number of medieval archaeological and historical monuments of mountainous Ingushetia are disappearing, being destroyed before our eyes, and are in a dilapidated state. The state, having declared these objects of cultural heritage of the Ingush as its property, cares little about their preservation, practically does not allocate funds for their conservation and, moreover, restoration. Local teip communities are invited to finance these works themselves. However, even isolated cases of restoration work at the expense of sponsors cause a lot of disputes and questions. In particular, one of such pressing issues is the question of the restoration of combat towers according to one or another of their type, since they differ in their structural details, especially in their roofing part, which is most susceptible to destruction. Such controversial situations arose, for example, during the recent restoration of combat towers in the villages of Harp and Bisht of the Jeyrakh district of the Republic of Ingushetia. This problematic situation seems to be based on the imperfection of the existing classifications of Ingush combat towers.The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the basic principles (bases) of the classification of combat towers and an assessment of their suitability for the reconstruction of the appearance of the latter. To achieve this goal, it is supposed to analyze and compare the classifications available in the literature (including types and types of combat towers and their distinctive features), identify their weaknesses and strengths, as well as assess the suitability of existing classifications as a possible scientific and theoretical basis for the restoration of Ingush combat towers.As a methodological basis for the research, this article uses a comparative analysis of the main classifications of Ingush combat towers, identification of possible classification principles and their assessment with the so-called suitability for the purposes of reconstruction of the appearance of the roofs of combat towers, as well as content analysis of the literary register of medieval tower structures of Ingushetia.

ON THE PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION OF BATTLE TOWERS 
 OF INGUSHETIA

The relevance of the problem under consideration, in addition to its epistemological interest, is also due to its practical significance. A large number of medieval archaeological and historical monuments of mountainous Ingushetia are disappearing, being destroyed before our eyes, and are in a dilapidated state. The state, having declared these objects of cultural heritage of the Ingush as its property, cares little about their preservation, practically does not allocate funds for their conservation and, moreover, restoration. Local teip communities are invited to finance these works themselves. However, even isolated cases of restoration work at the expense of sponsors cause a lot of disputes and questions. In particular, one of such pressing issues is the question of the restoration of combat towers according to one or another of their type, since they differ in their structural details, especially in their roofing part, which is most susceptible to destruction. Such controversial situations arose, for example, during the recent restoration of combat towers in the villages of Harp and Bisht of the Jeyrakh district of the Republic of Ingushetia. This problematic situation seems to be based on the imperfection of the existing classifications of Ingush combat towers.The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the basic principles (bases) of the classification of combat towers and an assessment of their suitability for the reconstruction of the appearance of the latter. To achieve this goal, it is supposed to analyze and compare the classifications available in the literature (including types and types of combat towers and their distinctive features), identify their weaknesses and strengths, as well as assess the suitability of existing classifications as a possible scientific and theoretical basis for the restoration of Ingush combat towers.As a methodological basis for the research, this article uses a comparative analysis of the main classifications of Ingush combat towers, identification of possible classification principles and their assessment with the so-called suitability for the purposes of reconstruction of the appearance of the roofs of combat towers, as well as content analysis of the literary register of medieval tower structures of Ingushetia.

Renesanční nástěnné malby na zámku v Moravském Krumlově

Renaissance wall paintings have recently been discovered at the château in Moravský Krumlov. The most significant of these is a painted decoration of the walls and illusive coffering on the vaulting in one of the spaces in the original medieval tower. This is just the torso of the decoration, which originally probably extended into all the representative rooms of the south wing of the château. By finding appropriate comparison locations in this country and abroad, as well as graphic examples in the work of Sebastiano Serlio, it was possible to determine a possible time frame for the creation of these paintings, which probably originated between the end of the 1530s and the beginning of the second half of the 16th century. In addition, stylistic interpretation of the revealed paintings also points to a possible manifestation of the so-called hybrid style, both through the placing of sophisticated Renaissance motifs in the vaulted spaces of the original medieval tower, and the use of the quick, cheap stencil painting technique.

A high detail UAS-based 3D model of the Torre Benzalá in Jaén, Spain

The constant development of geomatics tools has driven the opening of their applications to multiple disciplines, including archaeology. The possibility of performing a 3D reconstruction of archaeological remains as well as a semantic classification of the 3D surface facilitates not only a better knowledge of the historical heritage but also an essential aid to the planning and development of restoration and preservation projects of this legacy. Different data exploitation strategies are needed to take advantage of the geospatial data provided by geomatics tools. In this paper, we have studied the current state of conservation of a medieval tower, Torre Benzalá in Jaén, southern Spain. The interesting thing about this study is that very high resolution RGB images, taken by a drone, have been used in order to show the current degree of deterioration of the tower, providing accurate and precise documentation of the current state. Thus, a highly detailed 3D reconstruction of the tower has been carried out. A dense point cloud was generated to obtain a digital elevation model (DEM) to identify and quantify the most critically deteriorated areas. The results are useful for the development of an architectural maintenance and restoration project to preserve this archaeological legacy.

Branek Castle

The contribution discusses the architectural development of the former Branek (Mallegg) Castle or Upper Castle in the area of Branoslavci west of Ljutomer, which was the biggest, the most distinguished, and the most recognizable castle building in the wider Ljutomer area between the second half of the seventeenth century and 1926. In 1926, a significant part of the castle complex was demolished after a devastating a fire and the rest was converted into a simple residential building, which has so far not been subject to any detailed discussion in terms of its architectural history. By taking into consideration and systematically analysing the preserved remains of the former castle, old depictions, archival photographs, data on the history of the estate, and historical depictions, it is possible to determine the main development phases of the former castle building between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries with a fair amount of reliability and thus accentuate its special significance for the history of the Ljutomer area during the period concerned. Everything suggests that Branek Castle was built in the early sixteenth century in accordance with the medieval tradition of fortified castles and that it was set for Franz von Herbersdorf on the site of a medieval tower house which, unlike itself, served no particular defensive purpose.

Branek Castle

The contribution discusses the architectural development of the former Branek (Mallegg) Castle or Upper Castle in the area of Branoslavci west of Ljutomer, which was the biggest, the most distinguished, and the most recognizable castle building in the wider Ljutomer area between the second half of the seventeenth century and 1926. In 1926, a significant part of the castle complex was demolished after a devastating a fire and the rest was converted into a simple residential building, which has so far not been subject to any detailed discussion in terms of its architectural history. By taking into consideration and systematically analysing the preserved remains of the former castle, old depictions, archival photographs, data on the history of the estate, and historical depictions, it is possible to determine the main development phases of the former castle building between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries with a fair amount of reliability and thus accentuate its special significance for the history of the Ljutomer area during the period concerned. Everything suggests that Branek Castle was built in the early sixteenth century in accordance with the medieval tradition of fortified castles and that it was set for Franz von Herbersdorf on the site of a medieval tower house which, unlike itself, served no particular defensive purpose.

Branek Castle

The contribution discusses the architectural development of the former Branek (Mallegg) Castle or Upper Castle in the area of Branoslavci west of Ljutomer, which was the biggest, the most distinguished, and the most recognizable castle building in the wider Ljutomer area between the second half of the seventeenth century and 1926. In 1926, a significant part of the castle complex was demolished after a devastating a fire and the rest was converted into a simple residential building, which has so far not been subject to any detailed discussion in terms of its architectural history. By taking into consideration and systematically analysing the preserved remains of the former castle, old depictions, archival photographs, data on the history of the estate, and historical depictions, it is possible to determine the main development phases of the former castle building between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries with a fair amount of reliability and thus accentuate its special significance for the history of the Ljutomer area during the period concerned. Everything suggests that Branek Castle was built in the early sixteenth century in accordance with the medieval tradition of fortified castles and that it was set for Franz von Herbersdorf on the site of a medieval tower house which, unlike itself, served no particular defensive purpose.

COMMUNICATION AND THE ROLE OF THE MEDIEVAL TOWER IN GREECE: A RE-APPRAISAL

Little evidence has survived of the long-distance communication networks established by the Byzantines and Venetians in the medieval period. We know only of a chain of beacons established by Leo the Mathematician in the ninth century, an inscription found in the Peloponnese and a Venetian network in the central Aegean. This article reappraises the existing evidence and introduces new data following a study recently undertaken by the author of the topography of Negroponte (modern Euboea) and the medieval towers of Greece. Making extensive use of early cartographic sources, toponymic studies, and satellite imagery and telemetry, it identifies 142 tower and beacon sites on the island alone, and demonstrates, utilising archaeological evidence, how complex messages could be sent between towers. The research also uncovers a new term – the pyrgari, which appears to apply to a circular beacon tower. Combining this new evidence and the topographic study, the article then delineates, using GIS mapping, four Middle Byzantine and Venetian long-distance communication networks. The paper concludes by proposing a theoretical framework for the tower based on its role in communication and defence. Such work potentially helps us to understand in a more nuanced way the administrative and military organisation of the Byzantine themata and the Venetian Empire. The methodology also has potential for application in other regions: in essence it looks at the landscape not as a collection of nodes – bishoprics, cities and fortresses – but as a network of connections.

Learning from a Well-documented Geotechnical Cold Case: The Two Towers of Bologna, Italy

ABSTRACT The Garisenda Tower and the Asinelli Tower, also widely known as the Two Towers, are the best preserved and famous medieval towers in the city of Bologna (Northern Italy). Standing one close to the other, right in the heart of the city centre, the Two Towers are delicate remains of the old towered city, which counted more than 75 towers in the 12th century. The foundations of historic towers and the surrounding soil often hide major hazards for the long-term preservation of these heritage structures. The initial fundamental step to this aim is indeed a deep understanding of their original conception, foundations and subsoil. However, the idea that also such elements are an integral part of the overall structure, and thus subjected to the same conservation rules, is relatively new. The present paper outlines the investigation criteria applied to the soil-foundation systems of the Two Towers of Bologna and describes the authenticity of their characteristics, through the interpretation of new experimental data and the analysis of historical documents. A geotechnical perspective on this type of monuments turns out to be crucial in order to effectively understand the soil-structure interaction mechanisms, which govern their safety conditions over time. This study also aims to better understand the reasons why the Two Towers of Bologna, despite their numerous similarities, have reached completely different structural configurations. The methodology described to investigate this case study, which required the integration of several aspects, can be usefully applied to any historic tower.

Outlines about Senj’s Hidden Heritage of the Middle Ages in the Context of the Arts of the Eastern Adriatic Coast and Islands

Senj’s heritage in general is historically and artistically extremely poorly researched and interpreted in the wider context of the heritage of the Eastern Adriatic coast. This is especially true of the monuments of the Middle Ages, hidden under completely different later architectural layers in the Early Modern Age of the militarised town. The examples analysed here are hypothetically interpreted in a new way, with suggestions for the dating and stylistic connections from the region of Kvarner, as well as from the wider Adriatic area. Along with the emphasis on the historical circumstances and the analysis of graphic and written sources, a proposal is presented for the dating and stylistic connection of the destroyed mediaeval tower (in the old Croatian Chakavian dialect - turan) in front of the façade of Senj’s cathedral. The possible closest twin and model to the Senj tower is probably located in Krk - insufficient data about the appearance of the Senj tower requires some speculation. All the circumstances that support such an interpretation, in the stylistic and chronological connection of the former Romanesque bell tower of the Krk cathedral from the end of the 12th century and the bell tower in front of Senj’s cathedral are explained exhaustively. It is assumed that, like the Krk bell tower, this one in Senj also had a communal status, so this may have been the reason for the construction of one more bell tower behind the rear of the cathedral, connected to the whole of the bishop of Senj’s historical residence. After this, two chronologically and epigraphically-palaeographically close inscriptions are compared with two churches from the first half of the 14th century, one which according to A. Glavičić was located on the site of the sacristy of Senj’s cathedral and the other which was located on the site of the sacristy of the Krk cathedral. The epigraphicallypalaeographically very close inscriptions, Senj’s "Imie od Raduča" and Krk’s which mentions the donors "Leonard" and "Bogdan", as well as the master craftsman "Mikel", are dated just four years apart. Finally, there is a comparative discussion about the process of urbanisation, architecture and the possible original name of Senj’s Mala Placa, the probable centre of the secular communal life of Senj in the late Middle Ages and the second focal point of the then already bicentrically organised town. Also discussed are the implications arising from the existence of such an urban focal point located next to the quay and completely separated from the most important public space in front of the cathedral. A proposal is presented for the dating of the town Loggia (the socalled "Kampuzija") to the 14th century. The term is interpreted as the name of the Loggia (Loža), but also as the name of the whole area regulated early as a square, in the sense of "campo" - like Krk’s Kamplin. The explicit Venetian method of the shaping of the brick-built Loggia, fitted with characteristic ground floor columns and Gothic monophores on the first floor part of the façade, stands out. One’s attention is drawn to its basement storage area which may have been a storeroom for salt. In this way, an early Venetian contribution (14th century) to the urbanisation of this part of the town located in the immediate vicinity of the quay stands out. For the Daničić house fitted with a luxurious late Gothic triforium, it is assumed that in the late Middle Ages it could have been a town hall and that it could, in fact, have been the town hall whose beauty was praised by J. W.Valvasor. A hypothesis is made about its original dimensions. With a little research luck, this could be confirmed by the conservation-restoration research of the inner face of the house’s masonry, especially the floors at the level of the skilfully carved Late Gothic triforium. The triforium is attributed to the work of Andrija Aleši from the 1550s.

A Door in Use in Tallinn Appeared to Be Over 600 Years Old

In a medieval tower in the Tallinn Old Town wall there is a woodeninternal door that was suspected of being rather old. The age of thedoor was determined using dendrochronology. It was possible tomeasure tree rings from the lower ends of the oak planks of the door.Matching the ring-width series with oak references from northernEurope revealed that the door was over 600 years old, and still inplace in medieval Bremen Tower in Tallinn, Estonia. The ring-widthseries of the door was most similar to oak chronology from theDaugava River. However, this does not mean that the door timbersoriginate from that region. At present, we do not possess Estonianoak chronologies extending back to that time. Thus, the provenanceof the oak for this door remains undecided. The dendrochronologicaldate of the door, AD 1394–1411, can be confirmed and can be narrowedby documentary evidence to AD 1400–1410.

'Lies against history?'

During the twentieth century a great many monumental towers and tower terminations were so severely damaged by fire, tempest or war that the question arose as to whether, and if so how, they should be rebuilt. Should it be in the exact same form as before the destruction, or should some other solution be sought? In the latter case, was a return to an earlier (putative) original version preferable to something new? And if the latter, should one opt for contemporary architecture, or was a more historicizing formal idiom desirable?
 To what extent was the guideline embraced in 1917 by the government department responsible for cultural heritage (Rijksbureau voor de Monumentenzorg), which stipulated a contemporary architectural style for additions in the interests of historical honesty, actually followed in practice? In the localities themselves there was a preference for restoration of the old state, and that did eventually occur in a number of cases. On the basis of some twenty examples, this article looks for the first time at whether any clear trend can be discerned in the choices made. Of special importance in this context are the five design competitions (for the town hall tower in Leiden and for visually defining church towers in Arnhem, Zutphen, Hulst and Weert), because specific requirements could be laid down in the design brief, after which a jury was required to choose from among a series of entries and to publicly substantiate its preference.
 The need to rebuild was always a given, even if, as when the entire church had been destroyed by war, it did not enjoy the highest priority. Entirely medieval towers like that of the Martini Church in Doesburg, had the greatest chance of being rebuilt in the original form. If a Gothic tower had a termination in Renaissance, Baroque or Classicist style, the decision was often informed by an aesthetic judgement: the tower termination of St Stephen’s Church in Nijmegen was considered characteristic, that of St Eusebius’ Church in Arnhem was not. The Baroque termination of the Abbey Tower in Middelburg was largely reinstated but modified to accommodate the demand for a larger carillon. In practice the dividing line lay in the middle of the seventeenth century; later terminations tended to be considered too unremarkable.
 Neo-Gothic spires atop Gothic towers were always replaced. Sometimes by a reconstruction (free or otherwise) of an older termination in Renaissance or Baroque style, such as in St Christopher’s Cathedral in Roermond; in other cases with a modern, wholly new termination, as in St Willibrord’s Church in Hulst, or a slightly historicizing one, as for St Martinus’ Church in Weert. Even though undamaged by war, the cast iron spire of St James’s Church in The Hague was replaced by a spire that harked back to the original sixteenth-century spire.
 In the case of Gothic towers, one option that was never really tried was a reconstruction of the original (needle) spire, either because it had never been realized, or because of a lack of reliable information. Only in the case of St Walburgis’s Church in Zutphen was this option considered, but in the end it was decided to rebuild the fire-ravaged ‘pepper pot’ spire.

Stochastic Dynamic Analysis of Cultural Heritage Towers up to Collapse

This paper deals with the seismic vulnerability of monumental unreinforced masonry (URM) towers, the fragility of which has not yet been sufficiently studied. Thus, the present paper fills this gap by developing models to investigate the seismic response of URM towers up to collapse. On mount Athos, Greece, there exist more than a hundred medieval towers, having served mainly as campaniles or fortifications. Eight representative towers were selected for a thorough investigation to estimate their seismic response characteristics. Their history and architectural features are initially discussed and a two-step analysis follows: (i) limit analysis is performed to estimate the collapse mechanism and the locations of critical cracks, (ii) non-linear explicit dynamic analyses are then carried out, developing finite element (FE) simulations, with cracks modelled as interfacial surfaces to derive the capacity curves. A meaningful definition of the damage states is proposed based on the characteristics of their capacity curves, with the ultimate limit state related to collapse. The onset of slight damage-state is characterised by the formation and development of cracks responsible for the collapse mechanism of the structure. Apart from these two, another two additional limit states are also specified: the moderate damage-state and the extensive one. Fragility and vulnerability curves are finally generated which can help the assessment and preservation of cultural heritage URM towers.

King Solomon’s Towers : New results on the Roman and medieval building history of the fortifications on Sibrik Hill

The King Matthias Museum of the Hungarian National Museum relaunched its research in 2013 on Sibrik Hill, located approximately 1.5 km from the present-day town of Visegrád, on the area of a Roman era fortification and medieval comitate centre. Numerous unique finds have been discovered in the past eight years, which proved that following the 5th century AD the fortification was already in use again by the first half of the 9th century and it retained its importance until the first third of the 13th century. Katalin Boruzs excavated the southwestern part of the fort between 2019–2021, which revealed two Roman era towers and two previously unknown medieval towers as well. These new findings facilitated the revision of the periodisation established by earlier excavations, revealing a formerly unknown epoch in the medieval history of the castle.

Metamodel-based pattern recognition approach for real-time identification of earthquake-induced damage in historic masonry structures

Damage localization/quantification through vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is commonly performed by inverse calibration of a numerical model. Nevertheless, the numerous simulations required in the associated optimization problem pose a daunting obstacle when applied to real-time SHM. Particularly critical are heritage buildings, whose complex geometries often require computationally intensive modellings. In this light, this paper presents a novel earthquake-induced damage identification approach for historic masonry structures. This relies upon the use of a computationally efficient meta-model suited for real-time system identification. The optimization problem is formulated accounting for discrepancies between numerical and experimental resonant frequencies and mode shapes. Damage localization/quantification is enabled by multivariate analyses of continuously identified model parameters. A real medieval tower is presented as a case study, and several damage scenarios are simulated and used for validation. The reported results pave the way for the development of next-generation long-term vibration-based SHM systems with real-time damage identification capabilities.

Aportaciones estructurales al estudio de la denominada, “ermita de San Jorge” (Cáceres): el aljibe de la torre medieval de Los Mogollones

De entre los muchos elementos arquitectónicos dispersos por el término municipal de Cáceres (ciudad histórica incluida en el Patrimonio Mundial de la UNESCO) hay uno en estado de ruina, conocido como “ermita de San Jorge”, que en el estado actual del conocimiento algunos autores consideran un edificio religioso por el hecho de tener una estructura de nave diáfana y una serie de pinturas con motivos religiosos. La investigación resumida en este artículo: 1. Se ha realizado con metodología arquitectónica, recabando los datos conocidos y realizando un levantamiento arquitectónico de la estructura del edificio, no sólo de la geometría de los restos, sino del sistema estructural, así como del análisis del emplazamiento. 2. Demuestra que la estructura resistente de los restos constructivos corresponde en realidad a un edificio de almacén de agua (aljibe), emplazado en un camino histórico de la red caminera de Cáceres y en las inmediaciones de la torre medieval de Los Mogollones.