The Water and the Rural Landscape

Nature and history are integrated in the rural landscape and they summarize the infinite configurations of the local heritage. The symbiotic relationship between the environment and the rural nature of the sites is deposited on the centuries in a partnership that is an expression of identity and, with the exception of few areas that can still be considered whole natural, the current configuration of the territory is not the result of a spontaneous evolution, but it is a gradual adjustment operation and exploitation of local resources. The exploitation of water resources in rural purposes is one of the most ancient activities, the management of water resources has always been a work of vital importance for the survival and development of rural life, by developing and by perfecting techniques it has left a sign in the way of raising, in the type of crops and in the organization of rural settlements. The elements that are necessary for the control and exploitation of water resources vary a lot from place to place for the area's topography and the availability of the resource itself. We want to highlight certain constructive elements that derive their being from the need of exploitation of water resources, that influence the configuration of the landscape of our country as an iconography funded in the memory of places.