Viabilità Medievale

Questo volume affronta gli aspetti topografici relativi al tracciato della via Francigena nel Lazio settentrionale. Sono affrontati tutti i temi di inquadramento (storia degli studi, metodologia, vie di pellegrinaggio e modalità delle comunicazioni nel Medioevo, etc.) e di approfondimento (forme di insediamento, trasformazioni delle modalità insediative nel corso del Medioevo, tipologia dei luoghi di sosta, caratteristiche dell'insediamento rurale, etc.), con ampia documentazione grafica e fotografica e catalogo dei siti e dei monumenti dislocati lungo il tracciato. Il volume finalmente affronta la ricerca in merito alla viabilità medievale con un approccio topografico e sistematico, aprendo la strada ad una metodologia innovativa e fa però tesoro delle esperienze maturate nell'ultimo ventennio in ambito scientifico internazionale. English version This book aims at investigating the topographical aspects related to the stretch of via Francigena included in the borders of modern administrative region “Lazio” north of Rome. In the first part, all introductory and framing aspects (state of the art, methodology, pilgrimage routes and communication networks in the Middle Ages, and so on) are dealt with. In the second part, specific themes (such as: transformation of settlement in the course of the Middle Ages, typology of stopping places, rural settlement characteristics, and so on) are deepened, using a large documentation and attaching the detailed catalogue of each archaeological or documentary evidence. In the third part the road network is specifically studied, adopting a systematic topographical approach, elaborating a new methodology that builds up above the experiences achieved in the international context in the last twenty years.

Il sito medievale di Leopoli-Cencelle si trova nella provincia di Viterbo, su una delle propaggini dei Monti della Tolfa, a circa 12 miglia da Civitavecchia. La città, fondata da papa Leone IV il 15 agosto del 854 d.C. ebbe origine per dare rifugio agli abitanti dell'antico insediamento portuale di Centumcellae, vessato da pressanti e ripetute incursioni saracene (Fig. 1). Il sito conobbe una lunga fase di vita che dall'IX secolo si protrasse ininterrottamente fino al XV secolo d.C. quando, in conseguenza dell'avvento nell'area dell'industria

Archeologia delle strade, la viabilità storica della Liguria di Levante in confronto con gli attuali assi viari: capitoli XV: “Dal porto di Sestri Levante”, XVI: “Dal porto di Levanto a Parma e Piacenza”, XVII: “Dal porto romano di Luni e da quello medievale di Lerici”, XVIII: “La via parallela al mare” (pp. 179-207)

The reconstruction of the route of Via Selinuntina, in the stretch that from Syracuse led to Acrae, on the eastern side of the Hyblaean plateau, can be considered paradigmatic of the many methodological and topographical issues that affect studies on the practicability of Greek, Roman and Byzantine Sicily. After the fundamental contributions of A. Vita and G. Uggeri, and after the reflections of P. Orsi and B. Pace - that had seen in the Bourbon trazzere modern survivals of the ancient Greek and Roman roads - the investigations to define the path and the development of the so-called Via Acrense, have been carry forward by L. Polacco, R. Mirisola and L. Arcifa.
The so-called Via Acrense, of Greek foundation, was reconstruct on the basis of the settlements identified along an hypothetical path Agris-Siracusis, whose existence, however, is documented by the late Roman itinerary sources (Tabula Peutingeriana and Itinerarium Antonini) that hand down the figure of 24 miles of length, equal to about 36 km. The main weak point of this approach is the simultaneous use of Greek, Roman, Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages sites, without the necessary distinctions for chronological phases; the lack of physical presence on the ground of the road section (“carraie”) is often accompanied by the absence of analysis of the various transformations that territory has undergone in time.
The archaeological survey conducted recently in the territory of Canicattini Bagni (SR) and the review of the archival and toponymy sources and historical maps, have allowed us to acquire new data for a review of the knowledge of the ancient landscapes, the settlement dynamics and practicability in the Cavadonna river basin in Late Roman and Early Medieval Age. The toponym Bagni, refer to the figure of Mario Daniele, Baron of Canicattini thanks to royal investiture of 10 January 1669 and the Marquis of Bagni feud from 1680 onwards; could, however, evoke the remains of spa facilities (thermae or balnea) that often flanked the road stations becoming opportunity to gathering and rest: this district, in fact, is half-way to Acre, where we can assume the existence of a intermediate stop.
Former Bagni feud, already known for the presence of a small late antiquity necropolis and the discovery of a monumental greek crater with red figures (mid-fourth century a. C.), it was the subject of a brief investigation, still unpublished, by the Superintendent of Syracuse, thanks to which were identified the remains of a rural settlement of Hellenistic-Roman age near the Masseria Bagni.
The whole area is also crossed by a dirt road (trazzera) that would retrace one of the ancient routes that connected several rural settlements one another; some of these sites, in fact, for their hierarchical and socio-economic role, had to be functionally related to the main roads. An example is the villa of the imperial roman age with an adjoining terma, adorned with sculptures in marble and polychrome mosaic floors with geometric friezes, located in the lower part of the Cugno Martino; less known, however, is a second luxurious residential complex, with an agricultural vocation, with thermal bath, located near the cava Cinque Porte and identified along a second connecting artery, which linked the Late Roman and Byzantine sites of Canicattini, Piano Milo and Pianette.

La Valsessera è una valle posta a confine fra le attuali province di Vercelli, Biella e Novara, ed è sempre stata un crocevia di passaggio montano per raggiungere i centri di maggiore importanza.
Grazie alle evidenze archeologiche ed alla documentazione d'archivio, abbinata alla toponomastica, è stato possibile ricostruire  una maglia di reti viabili medievali che ricalca le attività economiche strategiche della valle.
La conferenza è parte del ciclo di studi e conferenze dedicate al "Progetto Alta Valsessera"