A PASSO D'UOMO. Uso e valorizzazioni di manufatti allo stato di rudere lungo il tratto appenninico della via Romea di Stade: il Castrum Planetti

In the 11th century, the monk Albert, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary of Stade, travelled to Rome in order to meet Pope Gregory IX. A detailed description of places and routes of this long pilgrimage is conserved at the Herzog August library in Wolfenbuttel, which has allowed the identification of the stages of the journey from Germany to Rome. Today, the Italian section of the Via Romea di Stade (or Alpe di Serra, or simply Germanic) is one of the most interesting excursion and pilgrimage routes leading to Rome. The route, rediscovered at the beginning of this century, has become a part of the real intermodal infrastructure of greenways, wanted by MiBAC in 2016. Many of these ancient routes are characterized by buildings and villages in a state of ruin. The Castrum Planetti, located in the municipality of Galeata (FC), is an example of this. A fortified settlement dating back to the 13th century, it stands along the Apennine stretch of the Via Romea di Stade, which was abandoned in the 18th century following the loss of importance of the valley floor road network. The essay presents a series of studies conducted by a research unit of the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna, shared with local administrations and entrepreneurs, aimed at identifying strategies for the use of the historical-architectural heritage in abandonment, that integrate the protection of the asset with the system of material and immaterial values of the context of reference. An enhancement of a territory and its disused historical and cultural testimonies, obtained thanks to the recognition of new opportunities in them, or co-evolutionary potentials, based on new economic models, probably contrary to the processes that have led to the disowning and abandonment of these places.