Rural built heritage and reclamation works in Grosseto plain, Tuscany - Italy

The territory of Maremma, which has for centuries been the marshland part of Tuscany, has been marked by continuous work of regulation of waters, to avoid stagnation and then the waterlogging. This process began at the end of the sixteenth century by the Medici, but only in the first half of the eighteenth century, with the Lorraine family, began the structural interventions of land reclamation, which continued until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. (Chelazzi et al, 2008) A series of works were realized to the north of the Ombrone River, such as canals and embankments, and two-canals diversions, which enabled to implement the "landfill method – metodo della colmata. At the same time, around 1885, were initiated actions for the reclamation of the marshes of Alberese, south of the river Ombrone. Only some of the interventions for the remediation of this area were to be borne by the Italian State, leaving the remaining to be borne at the House of Lorraine, still the owner of the area. (Bueti 1985). In the twentieth century the "integral" reclamation took place, implemented by the Consortium of Land Reclamation during the fascist period, where next to the landfill method, the natural drainage method and the mechanical one were experimented. (Colombini et al. 2010) In the entire territory of Maremma, after the reclamation works, in relatively recent years (1951) has been implemented the so-called "Agrarian Reform", by the Entity for the Colonization of Maremma in Tuscany and Lazio (Ente Maremma), with which the land was redistributed to renters and farm laborers. The purpose of this study is the analysis of the rural built environment of the area of the plain of Grosseto, with a case study on the Plain of Uccellina, area of alluvial lowland, included between the eastern slopes of Mounts of Uccellina and western hilly amphitheater of Montebottigli, the course of the Ombrone River in the north and of the Osa River in the south. In particular nearby of Collecchio, at the Antonio estate, there is a joint between the Vallone ditch and the drain of Collecchio (Figure1). Due to the impetuosity of waters coming down the Uccellina mountains, confluence’s points have their banks covered in stones, to limit erosion (Figure 2 and 3)