Water mills in basilicata region - a hertiage to be preserved

Abstract

Basilicata region is traditionally an agricultural territory which can be seen from the diffused presence of rural buildings and water mills, used in the past above all for grinding of the cereals. These factories were built primarily in the hilly and mountainous areas near to broad streams and springs. Unfortunately, today the greatest part of the mills is overgrown by uncultivated vegetation and represent ruins without the hydraulic and grinding systems. Only a small number of these mills is still working. A lot of factories, however, preserved, at least partially, the brickworks and/or the hydraulic and grinding systems; therefore, they could be recovered and used for didactic-demonstrative aims, in a context of rural tourism, and/or to produce good quality material for typical pasta and biscuits, in order to keep alive a historical-cultural tradition of the Basilicata. The aim of this paper was to present the state of the art of some existing agricultural water mills and to give future perspectives and ideas how to reconstruct them and revitalize them. The paper shows their historical characterization and a first classification based on their state of conservation, both structural and plant.