Proceedings 18 th International Symposium CIPA 2001 
Potsdam (Germany), September 18 - 21, 2001 
TRADITIONAL AND MODERN METHODS OF SURVEYING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: 
A FEW EXAMPLES IN THE FORTIFIED ISLAND OF MALTA 
Laura Baratirf, Gabriele Bitelli*, 
Hermann Bonnicf*, Marco Unguendolf, Antonio Zanutta* 
DISTART - University of Bologna, Italy 
Restoration Unit - Works Division - Ministry for the Environment, Malta 
e-mail: laura.baratin@mail.ing.unibo.it, gabriele.bitelli@mail. ing.unibo.it, 
hbon 1 @um. edu. int, marco. unguendoli@mail. ing. unibo. it, antonio.zanutta@mail. ing. unibo. it 
KEY WORDS: Surveying, Architecture, Fortifications, Restoration, Malta 
ABSTRACT 
A national consensus on the need for the rehabilitation of the impressive system of fortifications in the Republic of Malta has led the 
Maltese government to operate in the framework of a far-reaching international, cultural, and financial intervention. For this reason, 
the Maltese Ministry for the Environment signed a co-operation agreement with the University of Bologna. The objectives are 
ambitious, necessitating a multi-disciplinary approach. Different working groups responsible for specific tasks ranging from the 
acquisition of data and preparation of detailed surveys, to the design and execution of the interventions, were set up. 
In particular, the surveying activity is carried out at different levels: 
- preparation of an aerial photogrammetric survey in a scale of 1:500 for a better understanding of the historic sites; 
- devising of an operational terrestrial photogrammetric survey methodology for different building typologies; 
- structural monitoring using topographic methods. 
Different topographic and photogrammetric techniques and instruments were adopted for the various case studies discussed in this 
paper, providing an opportunity to collect considerable amount of metric data. The outcome of these initiatives is interesting, 
particularly considering that accurate numeric photogrammetric surveys can support the decision-taking procedures and the 
operational phases of restoration, thus allowing interesting developments with a direct link to the cataloguing aspects. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The “Malta: La Fabbrica delle Mura ” project addresses primarily the vast network of fortifications constructed by the Hospitallier 
Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the 16 th , 17 th , and 18 th century (fig. 1), and is characterised by the commitment to establish 
in Malta a team of technicians and professionals capable of addressing the problems posed by this heritage of international 
importance. 
Figure 1 : Grand Harbour network of fortifications 
For this reason, in 1998, the Maltese Ministry for the Environment signed a co-operation agreement with the University of Bologna, 
with the aim of initiating a research programme for the maintenance, restoration, and rehabilitation of this important heritage by 
resorting to the most adjourned practices in the realm of restoration. 
The objectives of this agreement were ambitious, and necessitated the formation of various interrelated actions (fig. 2) managed by a 
multi-disciplinary team of Italian and Maltese professionals. The actions are principally subdivided into three major areas, 
responsible for the documentation of buildings and artefacts, diagnostics and execution of works. 
Documentation and archiving of the gathered information is being considered of primary importance, and for this reason a 
Geographical Information System (G1S) linked to an extensive database has been set up.