Accessibility of Castles: Reality, Imagination and Good Practices for Memory and Dissemination

The EYCH 2018 (European Year of Cultural Heritage) indicates the architecture of castles as an element of European culture recognition and guardian. The castle is configured as a privileged custodian of memory and “spirit” in which a community has formed and consolidated over time. In this perspective access to culture and cultural heritage constitutes the core behaviour of a society that aspires to be inclusive and barrier-free. The example, through some good practices, of multidisciplinary approaches applied to the Italian architectural heritage, can represent a first step for the sharing of solutions to common problems and obstacles. The first example refers to the International Summer School (ISS) held in Brescia starting from 2017 “Universal Design and Sustainable Tourism: Cidneo hill and its Castle in Brescia.” The elaboration of different projects of preservation and restoration involved specializations such as architecture, engineering, linguistics, sociology, communication and marketing. The research was focused on the theme of accessibility to architectural heritage, the medieval fortress of the city, and its enhancement with an interdisciplinary and holistic approach in the perspective of Universal Design. The second example refers to the permanent exhibition “Signs of light”, Cemmo, Capo di Ponte (Brescia-Italy), at Palazzo Zitti: the musealization of a historical architecture that conforms to a castle, closed and inaccessible, through the realization of an inclusive, multimedia exhibition that respects the artistic patrimony in which it is inserted.