Il progetto di restauro come momento di riconoscimento dei valori culturali. Il caso della Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte a Caltagirone (CT).

The inexorable enlargement of the heritage field is a widely attested phenomenon. However, many uncertainties remain both on the definition of the objects and the processes of recognition, often not supported by an adequate level of awareness. The contribution intends to reflect on the outcomes that the process of patrimonialisation and the inclusion of the historical centre of Caltagirone in the World Heritage List have determined on the cultural status of the Santa Maria del Monte staircase, which today has become an emblem of the city and its ancient tradition of ceramic production. It was built in the early 17th century and reformed in the mid-19th century, and its current configuration is due to a radical renovation project carried out in the 1950s. The artefact is not listed, and its protection has been entrusted over time to planning and landscape measures; the growing interest – also fuelled by the city's inclusion in the World Heritage List – has, on the one hand, tightened constraints to respect its material and visual integrity, but on the other hand, has not been adequately counterbalanced by the promotion of a better understanding or more effective scheduling of the necessary interventions. Therefore, the case study lends itself to discuss the applicability of the restoration methodology to an urban complex with an uncertain patrimonial status, the nature of the cultural values as a limit and as a resource for the restoration design, and the role of the latter in finding coherence between the premises, actions and results of the processes of protection, conservation and transformation management.