Con lo sguardo rivolto al territorio della Toscana. Dal Gran Tour alle aree RESTART, verso un sistema integrato del patrimonio architettonico

Il contributo esplora il rapporto tra i viaggiatori e il territorio toscano, con particolare attenzione alle aree oggi interessate dal progetto RESTART. A partire dalle testimonianze del Grand Tour – viaggio educativo e formativo delle élite europee – l’autore analizza come le grandi città fossero mete privilegiate, mentre il territorio intermedio veniva attraversato con rapide osservazioni e considerato spesso secondario. Il lavoro documenta i resoconti di viaggiatori tra XVII e XIX secolo, rivelando come solo alcuni naturalisti e studiosi abbiano mostrato attenzione sistematica verso le aree meno note, come il Casentino e i territori tra Sorano e Manciano. L’analisi amplia il proprio focus considerando le iniziative del Touring Club Italiano, che tra fine Ottocento e inizio Novecento ha promosso una lettura più capillare del territorio nazionale. Si propone una nuova prospettiva interpretativa, superando l’approccio che riserva attenzione ai contesti monumentali e promuovendo una visione sistemica del patrimonio culturale, dove elementi architettonici, archeologici, ambientali e antropologici siano integrati. I siti Restarter – Vitozza, il Lago degli Idoli, il Castellum Aquarum, la Rocca di Bruscoli – diventano nodi di una rete territoriale che necessita di un’interpretazione corale, supportata dall’università e dalle comunità locali, per stimolare processi virtuosi di rigenerazione e valorizzazione sostenibile delle Aree interne. This contribution examines the evolving relationship between travelers and the Tuscan territory, with particular focus on the regions currently included in the RESTART project. During the Grand Tour period, travel was a formative and elite experience aimed at broadening cultural horizons. However, the itineraries and guides of the time largely centered around major cities such as Florence, Rome, and Siena, leaving intermediate and rural areas as mere backdrops in travel literature. Through detailed examination of travel accounts from the 17th to the 19th century – including works by Goethe, Beckford, Forsyth, and Ruskin – the paper highlights how only a few naturalists and scholars, such as Repetti and Targioni-Tozzetti, engaged with the lesser-known regions such as Casentino, Vitozza, and the areas between Sorano and Manciano. The study also investigates the transformative role of the Touring Club Italiano (TCI) in the early 20th century, which, through its maps and guidebooks, encouraged a broader understanding of the Italian landscape. The TCI promoted an inclusive tourism model that extended attention beyond urban centers to include minor villages, rural architecture, and scenic roads – helping to shape an early form of regional cultural consciousness. In light of current challenges facing marginal areas – such as depopulation, lack of services, and economic fragility – the author argues for a renewed approach to cultural heritage. Rather than constructing new tourist guides or circuits, it is necessary to develop a systemic and interpretive framework that interrelates architecture, archaeology, environment, food traditions, and local identity. Sites like Vitozza, the sacred Lake of the Idols in Casentino, the Castellum Aquarum of Manciano, and the castle of Bruscoli are interpreted as nodes of a larger territorial network that reflects a millenary cultural landscape. This systemic vision requires coordination among academic institutions, local authorities, and active citizenship. It aims not only to protect and study these areas but also to regenerate them socially and economically by enhancing their cultural capital. A narrative of connectedness and thematic coherence, rather than isolated monumentality, is proposed to reframe how we engage with the marginal territories of Tuscany and Italy as a whole. In doing so, the RESTART project emerges as a potential model for inclusive, research-based territorial valorization.