Barracks from modern age iberian wars (1650-1750) heritage value, contemporary use and social housing

Abstract

The present paper studies 18th century military garrisons built in border villages of Portuguese Alentejo during the instability period that began with the Restoration War (1640-1668) between Portugal and Spain. Besides presenting their constructive types and materiality, the research focus on the heritage value of these barracks, especially given their urban context inside small peripheral towns’ historical centres under threat of desertification. Three cases are compared in order to determine which contemporary use better favours heritage conservation of the barracks modular structures.