Un approccio esteso per il recupero dei beni ecclesiastici dismessi. La rete delle chiese sconsacrate nel centro storico di Salerno An extended approach for the recovery of disused ecclesiastical heritage. The network of abandoned churches in Salerno historic centre

The reuse of religious buildings – an expression used to describe the possibility of assigning a sacred place to another function after its original purpose has ceased – is a phenomenon of particular interest from both a legal and an artistic-architectural standpoint. The most difficult challenge in the transformation project is introducing a new non sordidum function that is compatible with the historical, structural, architectural, and urban levels. This contri-bution investigates the problem of sacred building re-use, emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive and extended approach, to suggest prudent solutions. The study focuses on the historic city centre of Salerno (Italy), which is extremely dense with religious structures (churches, convents, monasteries, chapels, and so on), the majority of which have been aban-doned or are no longer in use.