3.2. Landscape Role | Potential Tourism

With the industrial era over, Arquata Scrivia wants to return to tourism, which was very important until the 1960s. The Municipality has in fact printed the tourist promotion poster that recalls the famous one of the 1930s, a drawing in which a man and a woman admired the town and where the slogan “Ideal holiday, Arquata Scrivia” stood out.

Now the manifesto is ready and will support another project of the municipal administration, the tourist guide of Arquata Scrivia, officially a tourist municipality since 2019. Twenty-four pages with the architectural, historical, landscape and gastronomic peculiarities, such as the tower, the Gothic house, the badlands, the baroque well, the ancient villas. And then, the many local products.

Landscape Role | Potential Tourism

1930s

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Plan for Reactivation of Tourism in Arquata Scrivia

“Once there were Genoese vacationers - said the mayor, Alberto Basso at the presentation of the guide -, now that tourism is no longer there but Arquata deserves to be re-evaluated from a tourist point of view thanks to its many riches”.

III. 53 Comune di Arquata Scrivia. (1930s). poster: “Villeggiatura Ideale”. III.54 Comune di Arquata Scrivia. (2019). poster: “Villeggiatura Ideale”.

Countryside Landscapes to Discover

“I opted for the countryside, finding there more delight and challenge, meaning and rewards than I could elsewhere. Yet, I chose the city as my place of work, my professional challenge. If we can create the humane city, rather than the city of bondage to toil, then the choice of city or countryside will be between two excellences, each indispensable, each different, both complementary, both life-enhancing. Man in Nature”.

(McHarg, 1969)

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Taking into account, the great interest of the city man to escape to the countryside in his spare time, especially today where the city is saturated. The intention to reactivate Vocemola, along with the presence of nature can be achieved if the appropriate tools are used. In the case of this project, it is planned to attract tourists through an architectural intervention that facilitates and enhances their experience in the existing nature.

Since Arquata Scrivia’s territory is a valley, the orography of the site is extensive and there are various landscapes to discover. In the specific case of Vocemola, on its west side the mountains rise; thus they make up the valley. Due to the A7 Motorway, there is no connection that facilitates the access of the inhabitants and tourists of Vocemola to these natural landscapes. However, the presence of the service area next to Vocemola is a potential stay for travelers to stop and enjoy the experience offered by the natural landscapes of the valley.

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III. 55 Comune di Arquata Scrivia. (2019). photography: “Calanchi”. III. 56 Comune di Arquata Scrivia. (2019). photography: “Leccio in Località Belvedere, Alcune specie di orchidee”.