“Sentire la Pietra”: the economic and cultural role of ornamental stones in Piedmont region (Italy)

Today cultural heritage is no longer considered like an historical, artistic and architectural object of interest, but also an evidence of economic, cultural and social activities of a country. An ornamental stone is one of these evidences and could be consider “Cultural heritage”. In Piedmont region (Italy) there are few local museums that illustrate the material and immaterial value of the stone, like usage and processing. They are called eco-museums and their aim is to preserve, protect and show frameworks of traditional society, in order to pass on the traditions of local country people. They are generally financed by the city council, and their maintenance is mainly based on local people’s charity and availability. In Piedmont region there are some museums that preserve the historical memory, furthermore the whole city of Turin is an “open museum”, where anyone can admire 150 kinds of ornamental stones, all quarried out in Piedmont. The ornamental stones perfectly describe the town’s identity and are historical and artistically precious. The aim of this project is to create a stone path through the streets of Turin, with information panels, where citizens, tourists and even children, can appreciate the historical description of the building and of the ornamental materials too. This path could be part of a wider project including a stone museum called “Museo della pietra”. The main idea is based on a scientific museum, where technical and scientific information (i.e. extraction process, petrographic characteristics, transport and installing methods) are shown the historical ones, by the exposition of historical pictures and video of craftsmen daily life. The project called “Sentire la Pietra” could be a network composed by the stone city path, the Eco museums and a main museum where reconstructing the local social life, telling the story of ornamentals stone in Piedmont, for both foreign tourists and citizens.