Castrum Petrae Roseti: tra opera e pensiero teorico sul valore ambientale nella tutela e conservazione del patrimonio storico fortificato

Conceived and built as “war machines” designed to meet the needs of defense and domination, fortified architectures were configured as engineering, purely functional ‘tools’ that, having lost their original military function, entered the system of cultural heritage not fully identified in conservation and restoration practices.Their vision changed in the 20th century, when the close interdependence of the historical-territorial investigation related to them began to become clear: in fact, it is an architectural typology that is not only functional, but that becomes the bearer of cultural and environmental values.Piero Gazzola spoke of them in this regard, defining them as “pre-existences to be understood as bearers of a value system capable of going far beyond the original motivation that determined their existence.”They are thus configured as “monuments-documents” not only because of their cultural quality, but also because of the close dialogue that binds them to the urban and landscape environment.The environmental value thus becomes a principle of definition and articulation of fortified complexes: military architecture in fact is located in specific territories, which favored defense but also attack, the domination of a territory.The theme is therefore significant precisely because of the symbiotic relationship that is generated between the orographic features and the genesis of the fortification.Castrum Petrae Roseti is a fortified architecture that fully meets the description of fortification, where the harmonious link between architecture, memory and environment is relevant. Set on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea, defending the Ionian coast in the Calabrian province of Cosenza, the territory was marked by historical-political events, most importantly by the passage of Stupor Mundi Federico II of Svevia, who around the middle of the 13th century, on the pre-existing Castrum Petrae Roseti worked on a formal completion, making it a true architectural and landscape reference, yesterday and today.