Tracce dei luoghi, percezioni e interpretazioni del paesaggio religioso della valle di Rieti

The research concerns the sacred landscape of the Rieti Valley, in particular the religious and tourist itinerary of St. Francis, which today, despite its high cultural and environmental symbolic value, also of international scope, is presented as an area that is not exactly defined from the point of view of the relationship between punctual elements: the Franciscan Sanctuaries, the historical centres and the routes rich in history, culture, faith and nature. The Sanctuaries, architectures of proximity to the city, regenerative places of the soul, of return to the neighbouring villages, are articulated in relation to the geography of an identity landscape of crossing: the Sanctuaries of Poggio Bustone; of La Foresta in which Francis composed part of the Canticle of Creatures; of Fonte Colombo and of Greccio in which in 1223 the tradition of the nativity scene was started, this year 2023 the 800th anniversary. The Encyclical Laudato Sì exhorts an integral ecology of interactions between environment, society, cultures, economy; the Franciscan landscape concept, of high biodiversity enhanced by the presence of parks and nature reserves enriched by water (rivers, springs and lakes), is at the basis of modern ecological thinking. The reflection posed to the landscape and architecture project is therefore that of putting in place strategies for the interpretation, reactivation and development of places, starting from a knowledge of its elements, in a key of valorisation and transformation of the territory that enhances its intrinsic richness and specificity.