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Abstract:Fortified architecture of medieval times in Greece is a research field with several challenges for the scholars such as the absent of plans and written sources. The current study investigates how digital documentation methods can contribute to the extraction of archaeological information from the actual material sources -the various building traces. This relation between survey and interpretation will be presented through the case of Acrocorinth Castle. The survey of a smaller area of the fortification between the 2 nd and 3 rd defence line of Acrocorinth was executed in order to create a three dimensional (3D) representation for the Middle-Byzantine Phase of the castle. The project was implicated in the frame of the creation of the web-platform ecastles.culture.gr for the promotion of fortified architecture in Peloponnese under the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (25 th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Argolid Ephorate of Antiquities). In the present study the surveying method and the step by step graphic reconstruction will be initially presented. Subsequently, it will be analysed how the digital survey led to the gradual modulation of the castle's historic form and how the scenarios of building phases' evolution were made.Key words: virtual archaeology, virtual reconstruction, data acquisition, documentation of cultural heritage, 3D reconstruction Resumen:La investigación de la arquitectura medieval en Grecia es un área que presenta varios retos para los investigadores, ya que no existen mapas ni información escrita. El estudio actual investiga cómo los métodos de documentación digital pueden contribuir a la extracción de la información arqueológica a partir de las fuentes materiales existentes -las varias trazas de construcción. Esta relación entre documentación e interpretación se presenta mediante el caso del Castillo de Acrocorinto. La documentación de una pequeña área de la fortificación entre la 2 a y 3 a línea de defensa de Acrocorinto se ejecutó para crear una representación tridimensional (3D) de la fase bizantina media del castillo. El projecto se desarrolló en el marco de la creación de la plataforma web ecastles.culture.gr con el objeto de promocionar la arquitectura fortificada en el Peloponeso bajo el Ministerio de Cultura Helénico (25 th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Argolid Ephorate of Antiquities). En el presente studio, se presenta el método de documentación y los pasos para la reconstrucción grafica. Adicionalmente, se analizará cómo la documentación digital condujo a la modulación gradual de la forma historica del castillo y cómo las diferentes fases de construcción fueron evolucionando.Palabras clave: arqueología virtual, reconstrucción virtual, adquisición de datos, documentación del patrimonio cultural, reconstrucción 3D

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Old Navarino fortification (Palaiokastro) is located on the promontory supervising the naturally endowed Navarino-bay at the south-western foot of Peloponnese peninsula, near the contemporary city of Pylos. The cliff where it is built and where ancient relics lie, was fortified by Frankish in the thirteenth century. The fortification though knows significant alterations firstly by Serenissima Republic of Venice from the fifteenth century that aims to dominate the naval routes of Eastern Mediterranean by establishing a system of coastal fortifications and later by the Ottomans after the conquest of Venice’s possessions at Messenia in 1500. Between fifteenth and seventeenth century, apart from important modifications at the initial enceinte of the northern Upper City, the most notable transformation of Old Navarino is the construction of the new Lower fortification area at the south and the southern outwork ending up to the coastline. Especially the Lower fortification is a sample of multiple and large-scale successive alterations for the adjustment to technological advances of artillery (fortification walls reinforcement, modification of tower-bastions, early casemates, gate complex enforcements). The current essay focuses on the study of these specific elements of the early artillery period and the examination of Old Navarino’s strategic role at the time of transition before the adaptation of “bastion-front” fortification patterns, such as those experimented in the design of the fortified city of New Navarino, constructed at the opposite side of the Navarino gulf by the Ottomans (1573).