Protection, conservation and dissemination of integral heritage. The cultural project - ecomuseum “Legado Vivo” (Ricote Valley, southeasternSpain)

Abstract

[ES] The cultural project - ecomuseum “Legado Vivo” was born in 2013, within the Cultural Association “La Carraila” (https://lacarraila.blogspot.com/), which was joined in 2018 by the Association “Caramucel, nature and history” (https://caramucel.blogspot.com/). Its objective is the protection, conservation, recovery, signalling and dissemination of the integral heritage of the Ricote Valley (Region of Murcia). The cultural and natural assets comprise a unique cultural landscape, which is why this region has been included in the National Cultural Landscape Plan. The orchards, the irrigation ditches and their water wheels generate a geographical space full of cultural milestones consolidated over the last millennium. The fruit of the work carried out in recent years by the members of the aforementioned associations has made it possible to identify ten heritage itineraries of diverse nature in the municipalities that make up the Ricote Valley, the protection of 7 places with the category of BIC (Asset of Cultural Interest); or label, recover and promote the Valricotí toponymy, which provides information about the settlement and the language that originated them, constituting a rich intangible cultural heritage. International conferences, interpretive itineraries offered to the public, archaeological interventions have been held, and more than a hundred articles contained in six books have been published; likewise, the discovery of the first prehistoric paintings in the municipalities of Abarán, Blanca and Ricote has been held. Finally, an interactive tool has been created (MAPACUVALLE - Map of the assets of the cultural landscape of the Ricote Valley) that, to date, allows 137 assets to be identified, update the state of conservation, and incorporate new heritage elements for dissemination and transfer of the knowledge to society (https://legadovivo.blogspot.com/p/mapacuvalle.html). This associative work has been prize-winning with the National Hispania Nostra Prize 2023 for the signalling and disseminating cultural and natural heritage.