MASSA LUBRENSE COAST AND IT'S MODIFICATIONS DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

This contribution, which comes from the study experiences of the research group The Landscape in Laboratory (IlPaesaggio in Laboratorio) (CNR - IRET), aims to analyse the stages of the anthropogenic activities that have markedand modified the image of some stretches of the coast of Massa Lubrense during the twentieth century. The naturaltheatre that includes the twenty kilometers of this evocative coast is that of a varied hilly landscape, with olive andcitrus groves degrading towards the sea, sometimes rocky with wild and spontaneous vegetation typical of theMediterranean that is reflected in the blue sea. The gradual impoverishment of the identity matrices of this"enchanted" place, the land of Ulysses and the mermaids, the destination of travelers and writers of every age, is theresult of the progressive affirmation of new models of economic development. At the beginning of the twentieth century,the strong landscape values that through the centuries had defined the originality and uniqueness of this territorybegan to be altered; following the mining activities, the coast was literally devoured and modified in its secularstructure. In the twenty kilometers of Lubrense coast, from Puolo to the fjord of Crapolla, six quarries were opened forlimestone extraction. Strategically, the quarries arose in the most sheltered bays and easily accessible by cargo boatsthat coincide with some of the most beautiful coves of this coastal stretch. Just the most protected bays, subsequentlyreconverted for new activities related to the increase of tourism, changed again their identity and image. We intend toanalyze, both through the rich archival documentation, partly found during the research in the Historical Archives ofthe Municipality of Massa Lubrense, and through the vast repertoire of stereotyped images related to the phenomenonof mass tourism, situations and cases that in the second half of the twentieth century changed the coastline in the twosides of Sorrento and Salerno. The construction of bathing establishments, hotel complexes, private parks for secondresidences, not regulated by careful planning, in fact changed during the second century definitively the environmentaland landscape parameters of this wonderful coast, which embraces the two sides of the gulfs: that of Naples and thatof Salerno, naturally divided by Punta Campanella, deeply different from the morphological point of view. It should beremembered that, starting from the 1950s, there were several historical, cultural and socio-economic factors thatdetermined the assault on the Italian coastline. The progressive occupation of coastal areas was defined during thesecond half of the twentieth century through unsustainable models of development, which led to a growing consumptionof soil and natural resources; also the Lubrense coast, as well as the more general case of the Italian coasts, aspreviously described, it was not spared from such complex dynamics. Several are the parcel along the coast, whichresulted in cases of building speculation. It must be said that the intensification of building phenomena along the coast,consequently resulted in the opening of new roads, which in many cases were configured as reckless interventions thataltered the high landscape values of the entire coastal stretch of the Peninsula. First the activities related to limestoneextraction, then the progressive degradation resulting from a building disorder generated by the exploitation of thetourist vocation of the place in the years of the economic boom, then the intrusiveness of the many private initiativesand the lack of adequate urban tools, during the twentieth century have contributed to a progressive and degradation and modification, even morphological of the valuable coastal landscape. Nevertheless, it still preservesnatural and scenic beauty, as well as a dense and stratified cultural heritage to be valued and protected.