Inspired by a series of articles entitled "Luoghi romiti", published in the magazine “Emporium” in the first decades of its existence, this essay examines one of the main lines of this periodical publication, inspired by the program of Arcangelo Ghisleri, cofounder of the magazine. Ghisleri was an advocate of the so-called "Geografia di casa nostra", a geography focused on local sites, which involved a knowledge of one’s own land in its morphological, but especially historical features. The series “Luoghi romiti” and other related articles of “Emporium” suggest the idea of a 'place' as a sediment of stratified evidences, as a 'place' filled with memories, which were often threatened by progress and modernization, therefore with a close relationship with issues relating to the protection of art heritage. The links between this series of articles and the collection entitled “Italia artistica”, directed by Corrado Ricci and published by the Istituto Italiano di Arti Grafiche, are evident in terms of illustrative ways and allow to show how new modes of cultural dissemination could be developed thanks to an effective combination of writing and photography during the first decade of the 20th century.
