Chiese di Roccella Jonica nello sviluppo urbano della città. Storia e restauri

The churches of Roccella Jonica, that today look heavy transformed, abandoned or ruined, hide a story long several centuries which found its expression in many artistic and cultural periods, that the book reconstructs thanks to archive researches and in situ analyses. New data have emerged, like the most ancient view of Roccella found in Florence, or the «apprezzo» of 1707 discovered in Naples, that made it possible to understand the road network of the most ancient fortified area. The Carafa Palace is situated in that part of the city where the surrounding built-up area has almost disappeared.
The study of the ecclesiastical heritage allows to comprehend other topics of the city history, to which from the end of the sixteenth century the Principality of the Carafas is hinged. The most important topic concerns the dynamics of the urban growth over time. In fact the churches are not only evidences of devotion and religiousness, but at the same time they traditionally represent the centres of social aggregation around which new centres are usually settled: so they have become growth engines. In Roccella the original settlement will grow from the high part of the city towards the village and seacoast, with the progressive abandonment of the fortified city and the expansion towards the waterfront.
Furthermore, the book deals with the subject of restoration, through which conservation actions should be put into effect, as well as the important topic of maintenance. The book is also about the experimentation of new technologies for the treasuring of the architectural patrimony, applied in the "virtual" reconstruction, scientifically founded on the historical Cadastre of the fortified city.
The articles of the book are the result of a coordinated research which involved university researchers and junior fellows. The research is part of a wider project finalized to the knowledge, rehabilitation and treasuring of the artistic historic heritage of a urban centre of the Locride, a sub-regional area of the Calabria region.