Spazi monastici a Benevento

During the Middle Ages, the urban structure of Benevento was characterized by the presence of many churches and monasteries, located in crucial areas of the city, enclosed by walls built in the fourth century as part of the reconstruction and reorganization process. Indeed, after damages due to a strong earthquake, in 346 AD, and because of new defense needs due to both international and domestic political plight in the third century, to readapting the walls was mandatory and not delayable. From a critical analysis of documents, it turns out that about ten monastic institutions were located in the city limits, from the north-eastern area to the so-called ‘Civitas Nova’, from the ‘Insula episcopalis’ to the area close to the Trajan’s arch (which the medieval texts call ‘Porta Aurea’, i.e. the Golden Gate). However, also outside the city walls, along the main roads, such as Via Appia and Traiana, the presence of monastic centers is well documented. The most part of churches and monasteries is largely attributable to decisions of Dukes of Benevento, who probably ran the urban space, land, labor and production through the real estates of those religious complexes, some of which became important and renowned in culture preservation and transmission. Noteworthy, thanks to accumulated wealth and to the devotion of Lombard aristocracy, monasteries were able to play, at least in some cases, a significant role in the political scene.