Heritage at Risk: Documenting and Valorising Ice-Houses in Mountain Territories

Abstract

Throughout history, people have always faced challenges in the collection and distribution of water in its various forms. The collection and transportation of ice, in particular, posed significant difficulties. Since antiquity ice storage and distribution systems, such as ice-houses, have been employed worldwide. Mediterranean countries have, over time, developed extensive ice storage and distribution networks. Snow was collected at high altitudes and stored in mountain ice-houses, while artificial lakes were constructed specially for ice production. Icehouses belonged to two main categories: those strategically located near production areas, serving as summer storage facilities, and those situated in villages on the plains, where ice was stored after purchase. Today, ice-houses risk being forgotten. While a few of them are still used, for example for aging wine, most have long been abandoned, lost to memory, or fallen into disrepair. Only a very small number of ice-houses, such as the Madonnina ice-house in the Ecomuseum of the Pistoia Mountain, are currently being protected and enhanced as part of the local built heritage. This contribution aims to raise awareness of the heritage value of ice-houses to foster their preservation and promote their enhancement. This can be achieved through the systematic documentation of ice-houses and of the systems historically employed for ice preservation, thereby ensuring the long-term conservation and effective appreciation of these structures.