Una favola ancora senza lieto fine. Il restauro del Castello di Saliceto “il giorno dopo”

Saliceto Castle stands along the ancient Via del Sale (Salt road), in the province of Cuneo, in southwestern Piedmont, Italy. Probably built between the twelfth and the thirteenth century AD, the structure shows today the stratigraphic signs of several and subsequent rearrangements, whose fundamental stages can still be observed: the defensive medieval phase, the Renaissance changes, the loss of the fourth corner tower, the restoration works of the early 2000s, the recent and unexpected abandonment. Starting from the current state of the building, this paper traces back the main events in the castle’s history of the last twenty years, focusing on what happened "the day after" the restoration, stressing the effectiveness of the whole project, and investigating the cultural response after the closing of the worksite. Finally, in the light of changed circumstances, the paper reflects on the impact of social, political and economic forces on the redevelopment project, underlining the need to closely combine the conservation actions with the management and maintenance processes of the recently restored – as in this specific case – built heritage.