Restoration of the Castle of Sot de Chera's Tower (Valencia, Spain)

Abstract

Moorish defensive towers are very common in the Valencia Region, (Spain) as they were part of the defensive system of the territory known as Al-Andalus. Those constructions were made mainly with mud walls; this traditional technique was very common, mainly because of its resistance, strength and economy. In this paper, the project and the works made to recover one of these defensive buildings are presented. This is the old Castle placed in a town called Sot de Chera. This paper shows the different phases of the restoration: the recollection of data, the archaeological tasks and its previous reports, the analysis of the materials and the study of solutions and its criteria, and the final construction. It emphasizes the mud wall technique as the most relevant part of the intervention. The process of restitution has employed the mud walls technique as it was made centuries ago, with its advantages and inconveniences. The paper also shows the difficulties found and the solutions implemented to recover the tower, as an example for future interventions.