Sistemi difensivi in Alta Val Maira tra XVIII e XX secolo: le fortificazioni del Vallone Unerzio, tra conoscenza e rilevamento speditivo

Although during the Modern ages the Val Maira has played a secondary role in the strategic framework of the Western Alps defense, nevertheless it has been affected, at least since the XVIII century, by fortification processes to defend the this key positions for the control of the territory, starting from the entrench- ments of the war for the Austrian Succession, passing through the XIX century structures, up to the works in concrete realized for the so-called “Vallo Alpino”. This stratified program particularly characterizes the Unerzio valley, a secondary water catchment area of the Val Maira, whose fragments reveal the strategic value assumed by this area, one of the main access routes to the Gardetta plateau, located between the Maira, Grana and Stura valleys. The essay looks for a diachronic rereading useful to highlight the defensive systems of the valley, dissim- ilar from the point of view of construction and artillery techniques, but united by the same border defense objectives. Specifically, it focuses on the Carlo Emanuele I barrack, for which it is possible to reread, thanks to surveys and archive data, its transformation phases and its current material consistency.