Trasferimenti multipli post-catastrofe di abitati nell’Appennino abruzzese (Italia centrale)

Abstract

New settlements in places different from those of the original villages are widespread in the Apennines as a result of reconstruction following natural catastrophes. Particularly complex cases are double resettlements subsequent to the earthquake which in 1915 struck a vast area of central Italy (M 7.08, epicenter in the Marsica region, Abruzzi Apennines). These are manifested in the foundation of “intermediate” villages, temporarily used after the original ones and before those presently hosting the residents. Two cases here discussed can be included in this category of complex delocalizations, i.e. the villages of Sperone and Frattura. Their histories evolved against the background of adverse geological conditions and are embodied in the juxtaposition of the original village (presently made of abandoned and mostly ruined remains) to the more or less significant traces of the “intermediate” settlement and to the “final” village presently inhabited. A further case of multiple delocalization is represented by Alba Fucens-Albe, whose history evolved during a longer time interval, between the effects of slope instability during the Early Middle Ages and the destruction of the medieval village due to the 1915 earthquake. The archaeological area of Alba Fucens (where the remains of the Roman town are visible) and the ruins of the abandoned hill village of Albe narrate the complex settlement history of this Apennine area.