Abstract

[Places’ forgotten hearts. Notes on transcendence, community and land recovery] Religious heritage is central to Italy’s urban and cultural landscape. Despite the historical value, more and more churches and monasteries are losing their original purpose because of secularisation and social demographic changes. Many religious sites end up underused, vacant, or even demolished. Out of all historic buildings, adaptive reuse of the religious heritage sites is particularly valued as a significant community amenity. When churches are no longer used as a place of worship, the buildings are often redeveloped into homes, cultural centers, hotels, or libraries, as it comes in Pirandello’s novel Il fu Mattia Pascal.