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Aden
(Yemen), the so-called cisterns of the Queen of Sheba. An impressive
system of reservoirs is placed at the outlet of the crater of
Aden, which in the past was made watertight and acted as a huge
moisture catchment device to fill the pools.
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Yemen,
a large system of organization of valleys by means of water
devices. Along the natural water course the dams called masraf
intercept the flows running down the steepest slope and deviate
them towards the cultivated terraces on both sides.
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Ghardaia.
The overbuilding of the settlements on the rocky summits along
the palm-grove forms the so-called pentapolis of the M'zab valley.
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Yemen,
terracing system for the protection and cultivation of the slope.
The water intakes deviate the flows from their natural course
and direct them along the walls on the terraces. Towers and
stone buildings are placed to defend the cultivations.
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Sasso
Barisano, one of the two large depressions forming the ancient
town of Matera. The houses, terraces and gardens develop in
successive circles and surround the riverbed of the narrow drainage
stream, the "grabiglione", now paved. The high spur of the Civita,
where the Cathedral stands on a rise, overlooks the urban landscape.
The dwellings envelop the limestone bed by stretching out into
the rock with deep underground cavities whose entrances may
be observed where the buildings become fewer and leave the rock
matrix bare.
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The
hydro-agricultural origin is important to understand the urban
layout of the Sassi of Matera. An overhanging garden resulting
from the threshing-floors, the agropastoral matrix on which
the process of urbanisation was implanted.
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Terraced
glacises of the Apulian Murgia highlands on the Adriatic side
organised by means of dry stone walls.
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Sion
(Valais), landscape created by the bisse technique, with terraced
slopes where high quality grapevines are grown thanks to an
irrigation system carried out by means of hydraulic devices.
The outlet of the latter determines the location of the historical
settlements.
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Santo
Stefano Belbo (Langhe - Piedmont). Hillsides organized and protected
by terraced fields.
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Gorzegno
(Langhe). Stone terracing systems.
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China,
soil protection system on a large scale. Dry stone lunettes
for the creation of soil and the protection of the slopes.
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The
Cinque Terre (Liguria). The figures show conditions of slope
degradation due to the constructions and the abandonment of
the terracing system, in 1940 (above) and today (below). In
the Cinque Terre Park which is on the UNESCO World Heritage
list, innovative practices for the rehabilitation of traditional
techniques and systems are currently being carried out.
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The
Sassi of Matera. The hypogea overlapping each other in several
storeys. The roof of a cave becomes a narrow street or a hanging
garden.
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Thula
(Yemen), reconstruction of water harvesting systems, open-air
cisterns, underground cavities and tunnels which from the citadel
provide the terraced gardens and the ablution rooms of the mosque
with water. The hydraulic installation still in use is very
similar to that of the ancient Sabean towns.
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Water
disposal system on terraces and phytodepuration.
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Restoration
of the hanging gardens and the terraced steps of the gravina
of Laterza (Laureano, 1999). The traditional practice of hanging
cultivations is confirmed by the restoration and amplified by
the organisation of terraced slopes used in the phytodepuration
system.
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Environmental
restoration project on the prospect of the front of the gravina
of Palagianello (Laureano, 2000).
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Details
of the soil protection systems used in the project. The terraced
slope
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Details
of the soil protection systems used in the project. The addition
of steps.
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Details
of the soil protection systems used in the project. Supporting
wall and channel.
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Details
of the soil protection systems used in the project. Gutter.
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Details
of the soil protection systems used in the project.Series
of terraces.
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Functioning
of the terraces as humidity collection devices, irrigation
systems from below and formation of humus.
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Water
system crossing the terraced slope.
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Creation
of a microclimate reducing evaporation from the soil and starting
up of a virtuous cycle of self-propulsion and self-regeneration.
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