For at least a century people have gone on pilgrimages in the Province of Catania. Most of the routes are mainly in rural areas. Although the routes themselves have not changed, there have been marked changes in the surrounding landscape. This is due to an increase in the number of residential and industrial buildings and to changes in traditional agricultural practices. As a result the landscape qualities which help to create the local identity have been lost, and pilgrims and walkers are at risk. The present work analyses the transformation of the landscape along the existing pilgrimage routes in the Province of Catania. Two levels of analysis are used: the first looks at the whole province and maps the pilgrimage routes; the second deepens our knowledge of the landscape along a specific pilgrimage route and is analyses the changes which have taken place between 1924 and today, in order to identify not only the valuable elements of the landscape but also the critical threats to it. In the latter case a diachronic analysis was used, based on the historic IGM maps from 1924 and 1980 and orthophotographs from 2010.Analysis was carried out on the use of the soil, the infrastructure, and the scattered buildings. The first level of analysis showed that there was a dense network of pilgrimage routes concentrated at the foot of Mount Etna. The results of the research on the particular route showed that there has been massive urbanisation in rural areas and agricultural practices have changed and that not only the pilgrimage routes themselves are under threat but also those elements of the landscape which could help to give added value to the particular area.

The transformation on the landscape along the pilgrimage routes in the province of Catania - Sicily

Riguccio L.;Russo P.;Carullo L.;Lanteri P.;TOMASELLI, Giovanna Maria Pina
2015-01-01

Abstract

For at least a century people have gone on pilgrimages in the Province of Catania. Most of the routes are mainly in rural areas. Although the routes themselves have not changed, there have been marked changes in the surrounding landscape. This is due to an increase in the number of residential and industrial buildings and to changes in traditional agricultural practices. As a result the landscape qualities which help to create the local identity have been lost, and pilgrims and walkers are at risk. The present work analyses the transformation of the landscape along the existing pilgrimage routes in the Province of Catania. Two levels of analysis are used: the first looks at the whole province and maps the pilgrimage routes; the second deepens our knowledge of the landscape along a specific pilgrimage route and is analyses the changes which have taken place between 1924 and today, in order to identify not only the valuable elements of the landscape but also the critical threats to it. In the latter case a diachronic analysis was used, based on the historic IGM maps from 1924 and 1980 and orthophotographs from 2010.Analysis was carried out on the use of the soil, the infrastructure, and the scattered buildings. The first level of analysis showed that there was a dense network of pilgrimage routes concentrated at the foot of Mount Etna. The results of the research on the particular route showed that there has been massive urbanisation in rural areas and agricultural practices have changed and that not only the pilgrimage routes themselves are under threat but also those elements of the landscape which could help to give added value to the particular area.
2015
978-88-6655-812-5
Rural landscape; Pilgrimage routes network; Landscape planning; Diachronic analyses; Greenways
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/85407
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