Artistic, Natural and Cultural Park of the Val d'Orcia

Within the framework of the present phase of discussion on local and territorial identities, the administrations of the Municipalities that make up the Natural, Artistic and Cultural Park of the Val d`Orcia are, in a spirit of increasingly close co-operation, conducting an ambitious project aimed at reviving and enhancing the Val d`Orcia territory not only in order to promote development compatible with the scenery handed down to us intact by both time and humanity, but also with a view to finding that feeling of belonging which is the foundation of a collective sociocultural identity. We think that this project is making good progress: the Park is now a reality, since its legal status and system of administration are presently being determined and Val d'0rcia S.r.l., an oparations management company, is now in operation and will be the point where public and private investments are co-ordinated and the future kingpin of the area's tourist and economic development. With regard to more specifically cultural matters, co-operation has also been fruitful: a Val d'Orcia Scentific Advisory Commitee has been set up, the members of which are well know scolars in the various fields related o the cultural project, for the purpose of making propasals and evalauting the various undertakings and activities. The "Festival of Val d'Orcia - International Festival of Montalcino" was therefore started in 1996, a cultural itinerary each summer, un August, consisting of special events in the better. known and lesser-known parts of Val d'Orcia, a kind of guideline to lead you through squares, castles, churches in a harmonius but composite and multimedia weave of music, theatre, dance and showings of films by well known directors. In this area, a place that is not only earth and sky but also art, culture and history, the long-standing an important theatrical experience of Montalcino, the marvellous music and art summers of Castiglione d'Orcia, Pienza, Radicofani and San Quirico d'Orcia merge to form a unique series of entertainments combining the national with the international, and making this area a centre for extremely interesting cultural events. Lastly, we like to think that the approach and spirit in which this event was planned are, even because of the institutionale instruments used, a novelty in this sector at the national level and, if not an example, at least a case of the synthesis of a strategy aimed at creation territorial cohesion while respcting and protecting special local characteristics.