Historical GIS and drone mapping for cultural heritage within a former Bourbon minor site. The case study of Torcino and Mastrati (Caserta, Southern Italy)

At the beginning of XVIII century, the label Royal Sites was used to point out the areas owned by the Royal house of Bourbon in the kingdom of Naples (Southern Italy) for hunting, one of the preferred recreation of the king Charles of Bourbon and his son Ferdinand. However, the establishment of these sites was only the first step for a new land management and governance policies in the inlands of the kingdom. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Royal Sites lost their relevance and were often abandoned or refunctioned, mainly for historical reasons. This paper is the second step of a previous research, where we defined the key changes in the Torcino and Mastrati Royal Site, a minor site located at the northern border of the former Bourbon kingdom. Using different sources, we highlight how, in just over one hundred and fifty years, this area lost its original function as a hunting reserve and became an agricultural area. The current research aims to detail these changes: we created an Historical GIS (HGIS) with several cartographic sources (ancient official cartography, old aerial photos, a spy satellite image, etc.) to better understand where and how this Royal Site has been modified. Overlaying the maps, we highlighted the effects of different landscape management during the two last centuries. Besides, drone mapping and 3D modelling allowed to virtually recreate the historical buildings of this study area to evaluate the state of preservation of the Royal vestiges.