Raffaella AFFERNI, Università del Piemonte Orientale - Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Italy
Carla FERRARIO, Università del Piemonte Orientale - Dipartimento di Studi per l'Economia e l'Impresa, Italy
The relationship between geography and spirituality is an interesting topic that allows researchers to analyse the attitude of the religious and the sacred, whatsoever they are understood, to act as spatial agents. Indeed, the spread of spiritual phenomena has both immaterial and material effects: it contributed to create in the past the cultural identities of many regions and also affects religious practices of modern life, but mainly shaped territories and their landscapes.
This relationship between the religious buildings and their surrounding territory is at the core of a recent debate at a European level, that involves the Italian scientific community too.
The paper analyses the monastic territories, intended not only as the geographical context closer to the site, but also as a juridical and economic sphere of influence, and even as a cultural mielieu.
The aim of the paper is to provide an evaluation of the properties and their legacies through the centuries, and how local communities related to their surrounding territory to exploit its resources and to shape it. This is crucial to assess the real power of the monasteries to root themselves and to contribute to the creation of the specific territories and their landscapes.
The authors will focus the attention on specific Italian case studies, in which the monasteries established a connectivity network and were able to modify the landscape through their settlement pattern. In this context the paper also opens for these territories new scenarios in the field of cultural tourism.
Mots clés : monasteries|network|territories|Italy
A105278RA