L’ambiente come patrimonio: dal contesto monumentale alla dimensione territoriale del restauro

The Venice Charter marked an important step for the extension of conservation from the single monument to the urban and territorial context, highlighting the values of minor architecture and all the material evidence of civiliza-tion. Today landscape and environmental protection, which arose a century ago in the context of monumental heritage, appear distinct from each other and fragmented between different skills. However an integrated vision is necessary, especially in those cases where the concept of monument and cultural heritage takes on a territorial dimension. Among these, the Fucino plateau represents an exemplary case for the history of the landscape, subject to natural disasters (floods, earthquakes), anthropic activity (drying of the lake, cultivations) and consequent adaptations of the ecosystem. Yet the perception of its cultural values is limited to isolated elements, while the management of the territory appears indifferent to the traces of history and the potential of a whole extraordinary place.