Giulio Savorgnan and his assistants began work in the island's capital, Candia . The ancient city walls had been renovated between 1538 and 1539 by Michele Sanmichele, following plans already laid out in 1518 by Giacomo da Campofregoso. The work, however, was still left uncompleted, and technical delays and chronic shortage of money left the city unprotected on the sea side - just where an attack from the Turks was most likely to occur. There were, however, technical aspects that seemed outmoded, according to the new outlook represented by Savorgnan. The corner ramparts  were too small and far away from each other, the curtains  were too long, and the moat not wide or flat enough to respond to needs: 'it being only a rampart it cannot see or defend one front from another, which is a mortal error'.¹ The corrective measures dragged on until 1566, and included carving out room for the embrasures, enlarging the moat, and trasporting large quantities of earth to erect the cavaliers, cover the casemates , and construct the embankments .

Footnotes:
1 'essendo ch'un baluardo non può veder né diffendere la fronte dell'altro ch'è error mortale'