The mountain landscape between eremitic contemplation, aesthetic attraction and sporting conquest: perceptions and transformations of the Cathedrals of the Earth

The vision of the mountains has profoundly changed over the centuries, transforming itself from horrid and inaccessible territories to spaces of eremitic contemplation or aesthetic attraction (think of the alpine stops of the Grand Tour travelers to admire the glaciers), to places of exploration and scientific research (see the ascents of humanists and scientists well before the birth of mountaineering), until becoming the object of competitive challenges and tourist exploitation. Border and crossing places, the mountains have been for centuries ways of communication and exchange of cultures; which became a theater of war in the last century, they were then transformed into places of industrial production (with significant changes caused by the hydroelectric industry) as well as “playground” for sporting conquest and recreational activities. Today, even more as a consequence of the pandemic, mountain areas act as a peri-urban scenario as a space for well-being and mountain therapy, but the effects of incompatible and degrading uses are increasingly evident. The different modes of perception and use have in fact caused substantial changes in the Alpine and Apennine landscape (distortion of the inhabited areas, new settlements, construction of roads, climbing facilities, huts and bivouacs at high altitude) without the reflection on the historical-cultural meanings, therefore on the monumental value of these places - not surprisingly already defined in the nineteenth century as “Palaces of Nature” (Lord Byron) and “Cathedrals of the Earth” (John Ruskin) - being fully shared today. The session intends to stimulate a transdisciplinary discussion with a view to safeguarding the mountains as a heritage at significant anthropic risk, highlighting the historical events and the multiple cultural meanings that these places represent. The need to protecting the mountain territory is becoming more and more urgent by integrating the different approaches (geographic, environmental, landscape, historical, urban, socio-economic, ecological) in a common vision that goes beyond individual specialisms and considers the mountain heritage as a monumental whole, where the impact of tourism can produce irreversible transformations. It is also appropriate to consider the discordant (sometimes not very compatible) results of the recognition of some UNESCO World Heritage sites, comparing different experiences and approaches to landscape protection.