| Abstrakt: |
Tuscia is the name given to most of Etruria, including large areas of Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria. This territory, nowadays usually identified with the province of Viterbo, extends north of Rome, located between imaginary geological boundary lines traced by the River Tiber and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is of considerable importance for the comprehension of the settlement processes that characterise the upper Lazio Region; one need only think of the articulated phase of the Etruscan systems set on ridge paths, or the territorial layout which derived from the Roman intervention, characterised by roads polarized towards Rome, which still today affects modern routes. On this complex road network, small and medium-sized urban settlements had increased over the centuries. Despite the many peculiarities, these places often prove unable to adapt to changing times and the phenomenon of depopulation also causes a gradual architectural distortion of the constructive tradition in favour of urban expansions deprived of those features that constitute the typicality of places. After a historic and geographical overview, this contribution aims at initiating a reflection on the issue of the abandonment of some Tuscia villages, analysing the results of depopulation processes and identifying the possible ways of contrasting the phenomenon starting from material and immaterial identity values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
