The Importance of Place Names in the Sustainable Tourist Development of the Inland Areas of Tuscany : Toponyms along the Via Francigena

Abstract

Tuscan cities of art and coastal towns have always been major tourist attractions and despite the continuous development of new routes and the search for different, non-traditional kinds of tourism, their competitiveness is still important. Inland Tuscan areas, thanks to a varied heritage of resources not yet well known and exploited, could accomplish a new task and gain a higher rank as places for alternative rather than for occasional tourism. This reversal is feasible through a rediscovery of forgotten resources that could be emphasized by incisive territorial marketing, able to create new jobs and new tourism market segments. The study of place names, through appropriate linguistic and geographical tools (topographic IGM maps, the Environmental Information System of Regione Toscana, etc.), reveals hidden identities in geographical areas that can be exploited because of their cultural heritage or their landscape. Sometimes the discovery of old linguistic remains is essential to understand the meaning and the role of places and buildings linked to the past of some ethnic groups who unconsciously left their mark in a place. The Italian Peninsula is rich in particular place names due to the passage of people both from the North and from the Mediterranean Sea in different periods and for different purposes. In Tuscany, too, some areas exist which have a cultural heritage depending on ancestral presences that can still be revealed: the study of toponyms, in fact, is an effective way to understand the origins and the role of places, the interaction between man and the territories where he lived, and historical and geographical changes. Toponyms enable us to understand the identity and uniqueness of a location, show us a sense of place and build a cultural base in order to make local institutions aware of it so they can breathe fresh life into economically weak regions. In particular we will deal with the route of the Via Francigena in Tuscany between Lunigiana and Val d’Orcia, where we find areas that have been economically important since their origins and rich in resources and cultural quality, others seen as ‘minor’ but vibrant enough thanks to new rural policies, and finally some other marginal areas.