The Windows of the Fortified masías in the Maestrazgo Region (Teruel). Documentation and Analysis for Their Interpretation and Valorisation

Abstract

In the Maestrazgo region, in Teruel, twenty-eight fortified masías have been catalogued that conserve a tower among their main buildings. This group has a high historical-cultural and artistic value, in the most aesthetically pleasing cases, in which the quality of the main windows is particularly noteworthy. It is a little-known heritage complex and at risk of disappearing, of which there was hardly any previous documentation beyond the buildings themselves, so it was considered necessary to carry out research to document and analyse its architecture in order to characterise it and objectify its value and state, with the ultimate aim of defining suitable criteria for its conservation. The aim of the article is to show the results of the specific analysis of the most outstanding windows, as notorious formal architectural elements of the group of towers, whose reading offers valuable historical information and, with this, to make known this unknown and endangered heritage, which favours its valorisation, as well as facilitating future conservation and research work, not only in the area of study but also in comparable environments due to territorial or historical proximity. The study has been carried out mainly from the formal point of view, but it has also contemplated constructive aspects, using different graphic methods for its documentation and subsequent analysis, which has included its comparative analysis.