Setubal is a city located 50 km south of Lisbon. Both cities are related not only by their spatial proximity but also in history.

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The settlement of Setúbal was founded by the Phoenicians around 1000 BC, as a colony on the left bank of the Sado estuary. It provided shelter, salt, horses and supplies to the ships that made the route of the tin to the region of Cornwall. During the Roman period it was called Cetóbriga where they established fish salting factories and ceramic ovens. But at the fall of the Roman Empire the city practically disappeared.

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Setubal was reborn during the reign of Alfonso III (13th) as a privileged port for its location on the route of the Crusaders and on the trade routes through the Atlantic Ocean. It became one of the main ports of Portugal, alongside Lisbon, Porto and Faro. Many of the products arriving to the capital, such as grapes, wine, figs, fresh and smoked fish, first passed through the port of Setubal. During the reign of Afonso IV (14th) it was constructed a second wall surrounding the town to defend against attacks of pirates and corsairs arriving from North Africa penetrating by the Sado estuary.

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In order to protect the capital, it was created a network of fortresses throughout the Portuguese territory (from the Moorish, the Castilians, the Habsburgs and finally the French army). Setubal was at that time a key place for the defense of Lisbon, because after Alcaçar do Sal is the second strategic point to eliminate the invaders that came from the south through the Sado. Along with Setubal there is also a system of fortresses all through the Serra Arrabida, which at the same time constitutes a natural barrier.

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The main objective of this exercise was to represent in different layers the information related to the systems that make up the scope of the project not only on a physical but also on a historical and political level.