Insegnare il Mediterraneo. L’emergere di un’idea geografica nella cultura educativa europea dell’età delle esplorazioni

The Mediterranean, as a geographical entity, has been the subject of reflection and study since ancient times. Is it still possible to say something new about this sea, which is among the oldest and most vibrant crossroads of cultures and civilizations? The interest of historians in the cultural processes of constructing geographical realities, the so-called metageography, is not a novel concept, yet there are still perspectives in this regard that are largely unexplored. Among these there is the educational perspective, through the production of geographical manuals. Adopting this point of view, the present article is a reflection on the construction and dissemination of the concept of the Mediterranean at a time of presumed loss of political-economic centrality: the age of European oceanic expansion, between 1400 and 1800. What distinguishes a sea from an ocean? How are continents defined in relation to the waters of the world? These are some of the questions upon which the following reflection is built.