Industrial archeology and Waldensian Valleys: identity, conservation and enhancement of an Alpine border Heritage

The industrial and proto-industrial heritage of the Chisone, Germanasca and Pellice valleys, near the town of Pinerolo (TO) – known as the Waldensian Valleys for the large presence of the homonymous Evangelical Church – features important evidences that can be traced even at the Modern Age: milling, stone and metal extraction, and lately, linked to the production of yarn, cloths and mechanical activities, have bequeathed buildings and set of buildings of great relevance (also in state of ruin) and, in some cases, comparable with considerable international realities. The greater number of the valleys industries stood along the bed of the rivers and their tributaries, and, for the most part, ancillary works to plants (especially those of supply and use of water, from pipes to closings, supply reservoirs of hydroelectric power plants and distribution lines derived from them) are preserved with the built complex. This structured and ramified in the territory ensemble, having specific characteristics but collective roots, has been the subject of numerous studies of inventory and conservation proposals; these last in particular, have directly involved the local communities, who actively participate in the restoration and enhancement of their history, which identifies and intertwines with the testimony of industrial archeology. Moreover, recent and reliable studies have highlighted the close relationship between industrial activity and the presence of the Waldensian Church (in fact, many entrepreneurial families came from central Europe, and were of reformed religion), and the different approach towards work in factory than the Catholic community. This contribution is therefore intended to provide a reading of the industrial heritage tying him to the religious communities of the territory, to their fluctuating presence dependent on persecutions and periods of peace and coexistence, connecting the production complexes with works of charity and places of worship. At last, I would like to suggest a promotion connected with the roads and the international phenomenon of attesting of these industries, suggesting new conservation and advertising methods, aimed to a responsible tourism in larger scale, also availing of study cases examples.