El patrimonio hidroeléctrico y la ampliación de los Itinerarios Culturales del Consejo de Europa

The hydroelectric system constitutes an industrial heritage of significant cultural value. This heritage, undergoing significant development, is mainly recognized as an energy resource and not as a cultural resource. The awareness of its cultural value will contribute not only to the enhancement of the existing heritage but also to the implementation of the cultural tourism with positive effects at the Urban and Regional level. The hydroelectric heritage is nowadays recognized as a productive resource of clean and renewable energy: the network of hydroelectric landscapes overlaps that of rivers and basins which interconnect Europe by building a common palimpsest. The cultural tourism applied to these landscapes can offer a valid opportunity for the implementation of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. The paper presents the case of the Italian hydroelectric palimpsest made by the S.I.P. - Piemontese Hydroelectric Company - as a prototype of Cultural and Environmental Itinerary characterized by the presence of an interesting system of architectures and by the environmental value of the natural landscapes.