FORTIFICATIONS OF THE RAPALLO BORDER AND THEIR ROLE AS CO-CREATORS OF SPACE / RAPALLO SIENOS ĮTVIRTINIMAI IR JŲ VAIDMUO KURIANT ERDVĘ

Janez Peter Grom,Luka Skansi,Alenka Fikfak

doi:10.3846/mla.2018.1485

Janez Peter Grom, Luka Skansi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3846/mla.2018.1485

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Abstract

In the period between the two world wars, the latent tensions between the European nations resulted in the construction of defensive positions on the borderlines of major European countries. Under the same conditions, the Italian Kingdom built an extensive fortification line, i.e. the Alpine Wall. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (SHS) replied to it with the Rupnik Line. On the base of the Treaty of Rapallo, a 289-km long demarcation line was built with an exceptional defence infrastructure, which interfered with vast natural areas of exceptional quality that are protected by various nature conservation regimes today. The research presented in this paper is focused on a specific land expropriation. The goal is to understand the historical perspectives and assess the current significance of this fortification system with its impact on the natural environment. The system of spatial assessment of the architectural, urban, regional and spatial planning aspects and landscape interpretation has been developed with the use of spatial planning mapping and other methods. It was tested on the case study of the Žiri Municipality to establish a possible systemic base on which the entirety of the Rapallo border with its defence infrastructures could be mapped and their contemporary role assessed.

Highlights

The absence of objective consideration, analytical system, assessment criteria, and maintenance and promotion schemes of fortification heritage is evident and the question of its utilization and sustainability is gaining significant importance
On the base of the Treaty of Rapallo, a 289-km long demarcation line was built with an exceptional defence infrastructure, which interfered with vast natural areas of exceptional quality that are protected by various nature conservation regimes today
It was tested on the case study of the Žiri Municipality to establish a possible systemic base on which the entirety of the Rapallo border with its defence infrastructures could be mapped and their contemporary role assessed

Summary

Introduction

The absence of objective consideration, analytical system, assessment criteria, and maintenance and promotion schemes of fortification heritage is evident and the question of its utilization and sustainability is gaining significant importance. Evidence demonstrates that relatively modest investment in cultural heritage can pay substantial dividends These can be taken economically and in terms of improving environmental sustainability and social cohesion.” (European Commission, 2014). Individual studies on the heritage of the defense architecture of the Rapallo border on today’s Slovenian territory has been made, yet none of them addressed defense lines of both bordering nations at the same time (Bizjak, 2016), none of them took into Grom et al Fortifications of the Rapallo border and their role as co-creators of space perspective the entire stretch of the Rapallo border from the Alpine region to the Adriatic sea (Jankovič Potočnik & Tonič, 2012) and none of them discussed the spatial implications of the siting of such infrastructure systems in the respective landscapes, furthering the question of heritage protection through modern technologies, granting general accessibility to information

Regional historical context

Rapallo border

Methodology and tools

Conclusions