Trails and Heritage Regeneration in the South-Central Apennines

This paper addresses the issue of reuse in marginal territories, focusing on historical trails within the south-central Apennines as drivers for spatial and social regeneration. Adopting a territorialist perspective, it highlights how spiritual and thematic routes, such as the pilgrimage paths linked to Celestine V, can reactivate abandoned landscapes by fostering memory, slow mobility, and territorial identity. These trails are framed not only as physical paths but as cultural infrastructures that promote heritage accessibility, community cohesion, and sustainable development. By comparing local case studies with the best international practices, the paper explores the strategic potential of thematic itineraries in reactivating inner areas through integrated planning, heritage interpretation, and ecological networks. The work emphasizes the role of walking as an ecological, experiential, and transformative practice and reflects on the integration of such routes into broader regeneration policies and green infrastructure strategies. This approach presents historic trails as tools for sustainable reuse of cultural landscapes, able to generate new forms of knowledge, resilience, and active citizenship in the face of depopulation and marginalization.