10.6092/issn.1973-9494/17363
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1973-9494
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Rossella de Cadilhac
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Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
cemetery
Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy
Text.Serial.Journal
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Articles
2023-07-20
2023-06-23
2023-07-20
2023-07-20
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Rossella de Cadilhac
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10.6092/issn.1973-9494/17363
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Department of Architecture, Construction and Design (ArCoD), Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy
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Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/17363/16545
22
O     LD MONASTERIES AND NEW CEMETERIES.
      THE CASE OF THE CAPUCHINS IN CONVERSANO, ITALY


   Rossella de Cadilhac*
   Department of Architecture, Construction and Design (ArCoD)
   Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy

   Keywords: terra di Bari, Capuchin convents, walled gardens, cemetery.



   1. From the walled garden to the garden of memory

     The destiny reserved to monastery complexes built in solitary places, far from the
clamour of the world in order to indulge in the ideal of a contemplative life and ensure
self-sustenance made up of alms and work in the fields, intertwines with that of the
cities of the dead, which had to be situated outside urban perimeters, in compliance with
the health laws passed in 1817 during the Bourbon Restoration, and the provisions of
the Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud [1].
     The latter had imposed the construction of burial grounds within an enclosure outside
residential areas, taking advantage of the possibility of choosing locations near extra-ur-
ban churches, or suppressed monasteries, as well as existing Catholic places of worship
and their walled gardens which, for reasons of necessity, could be partially or fully includ-
ed in the construction of the cemeteries. This is how the stories of two foreign worlds be-
came intertwined and were obliged to share a stretch of their journey. On one hand, we
have the monastery complexes, real territorial garrisons, with all their religious, historical,
artistic and social significance. On the other hand, we have the cemeteries, an equally rich
heritage, exceptional open-air museums – as they have recently been called – of architec-
ture, sculpture and decorative arts created between the 19th and early 20th centuries [2].
     This is an unexplored topic whose study, stemming from research on the architec-
ture of the Mendicant Orders – in particular the Capuchins – was initiated by taking as
reference, monasteries with walled gardens whose surface area had been reduced in
size, experiencing a true metamorphosis in the process of annexation to the cemeter-
ies under construction. This entailed redesigning the relationship between the built and
enclosed spaces of many Capuchin institutions in Puglia, as in Manfredonia, Conver-
sano and Tricase, deprived of their walled gardens with the inevitable transformation
of the site, and as a result, underwent semantic redetermination. The Capuchin mon-
astery in Conversano, Bari, Italy, did not escape this fate, as it was deprived of a large
part of its walled garden, which became part of the garden of memory (Figure 1)1.
     The concept of walled gardens in Capuchin monasteries is borrowed from that of
the monastic garden [3], which, in turn, dates back to the tradition of ancient Rome. It
encompasses a double meaning that can be summed up in the binomial desertum-hor-
tus conclusus, where the first term recalls a natural and inhospitable environment, the




   * Corresponding author: rossella.decadilhac@poliba.it
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                                                     Figure 1. Conversano, the cemetery site.

                                                                                                            place of choice for hermit life, and the second evokes the cultivated countryside, char-
                                                                                                            acteristic of cenobitic life.
                                                                                                                They are two seemingly irreconcilable aspects which, however, manage to merge
                                                                                                            harmoniously into a single structure, ensuring a harmonious coexistence between spir-
                                                                                                            itualism and usefulness.
                                                                                                                This is demonstrated by the dual role of Saint Fiacre (607-668 CE) – an Irish monk
                                                                                                            who was a hermit and a farmer, protector of the Gardeners’ Guild and not by chance
                                                                                                            depicted with a spade and a gospel – but also by the distinction, within the same struc-
                                                                                                            ture, between gardens and vegetable plots, with the equal distribution of the spaces
                                                                                                            intended, respectively, for prayer and work, well documented in the ideal plan for the
                                                                                                            Convent of Saint Gall on Lake Constance drawn up by Haito, Abbot of Reichenau, at
                                                                                                            the time of its rebuilding in the 9th century [4].


                                                                 406
    The articulation of the monastic complex provides for a claustrum, enclosing the
hortus conclusus, a place for reading and meditation, and for meeting; it consisted
of a four-sided space with a tree of life, well, or the central fountain which had a
highly symbolic meaning and, only later, was transformed into a garden with a lawn
and flowers; a pomarium (orchard) with fruit trees, a hortus with vegetables, a herbo-
larius (for medicinal herbs), made up of flowers and herbs (all Mediterranean spe-
cies) in square or rectangular beds, which were raised and fenced, and arranged in
a chequered pattern.
    The layout of the monastic garden is reminiscent of the villae rusticae of Roman
times, where four types of cultivated spaces are found in flowerbeds separated by per-
golas: vegetable gardens, orchards (pomaria), gardens with trees (viridaria), and herb
gardens (herbaria).
    Therefore, it is a process of resemanticising the Roman tradition that is reflected in
the monastic garden, borrowing layouts, elements and plant materials from classicism.
These motifs persist in the architectural structures of the Benedictine monks, while
they are partially reinterpreted in the complexes of the Cistercian monks.
    The lifestyle of the former, driven by a strong hermitic tendency and therefore in-
clined to prefer wooded and isolated places, is counterbalanced by the preference for
the cenobitic life of the latter, who preferred settling on the plains and were more in-
clined to give a new impetus to manual work in the fields by clearing marshy land.
    Life in the Capuchin monastery complexes was reflected in the distribution of spac-
es, where nature, culture, work and spirituality met in a complementary relationship
that epitomised the soul of the order [5].
    The forest – a wooded area where the friars could immerse themselves in isolation
and prayer but also collect wood for use in the monastery -, the walled kitchen garden,
the monastery, the library, the infirmary and the church, echo a unitary design, in some
cases preordained [6] and, in others, built by subsequent additions and acquisitions,
but always responding to a precise formal and distributive idea, in a perfect balance




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between full and empty, closed and open spaces.


   2. The case study

    In the case of the Capuchin monastery in Conversano, the architectural structure
that grew around an original unit that is still clearly recognisable today, has retained its
primordial layout, despite additions and subtractions, such as the mutilation inflicted on
the ancient garden.
    This was the time when the life of the fraternity was drastically interrupted by the
Napoleonic suppression of religious orders between 1806 and 1809 and irreversibly
compromised by the law of 11 March 1817, when it was subsequently implemented at
the Monastery of Conversano. “If, in a municipality, outside the residential area and on
an appropriate site there is a church, or chapel, the cemetery shall preferably be built
on an adjacent site [...]. Whenever there are convenient walled gardens adjacent to the
premises of suppressed monasteries, whether they are granted to municipalities or
remain owned by the State, the cemetery will be established there in preference, for
the same reason” [7].
    Located in the immediate vicinity of the municipal cemetery, the monastery of the
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin of Conversano was intentionally built half a kilometre
from the town centre along the road that connects the town to the urban centres of


                                                                                               407
                                                                                                            Cozze, Polignano and Mola di Bari. The extramural construction in correspondence
                                                                                                            with a public road met the need, as prescribed by the Constitutiones of 1643 [8] to
                                                                                                            follow a lifestyle marked by solitude, contemplative prayer and, at the same time, the
                                                                                                            apostolate through itinerant preaching along the pilgrimage routes connecting one
                                                                                                            monastery to another [9].
                                                                                                                 The distance from the urban centre, the introverted character of the architectural
                                                                                                            structure, the minimalism of the buildings, the rationality of its distribution and the use
                                                                                                            of poor materials, reflect a project of communal life based on poverty, marked by prayer
                                                                                                            and the collective activities reserved for the spaces on the ground floor (the church, the
                                                                                                            cloister, the workshops, the refectory) and the open spaces (the garden) and by per-
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                            sonal meditation practised in the intimacy of the individual cells located on the upper
                                                                                                            floor (Figures 2 and 3) 2.




                                                                                                            Figure 2. Conversano, the Capuchin Monastery, view of the current condition of the Western facade.


                                                                                                                The first unit, initially consisting of a hospice commissioned by Gian Gironamo
                                                                                                            of the Acquaviva-d’Aragona family, governor of the county of Conversano [10], took
                                                                                                            shape between 1572 and 1580 thanks to the donation of a nobleman, Andrea Mat-
                                                                                                            teo Martucci.
                                                                                                                The bequest allowed for the construction of the church and the reorganisation of the
                                                                                                            rooms into three wings situated around a porticoed cloister, according to a recurring
                                                                                                            spatial scheme, with a taller church to the north and a monastery to the south, to ensure


                                                                 408
         Figure 3. Diagram showing layout of the Capuchin Monastery in Conversano.

greater protection of the residential part from the cold winter winds. Right from the start,




                                                                                                 CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
the church and monastery reveal a relationship of mutual necessity, which is both func-
tional and spiritual. The liturgical space, consisting of a simple hall developed length-
wise to facilitate listening to the Word of the Lord and preaching, had a quadrangular
choir, separate from the presbytery, but communicating with it through two openings at
the sides of the altar (Figure 4, I)3. The monastery, centred around the four-sided portico
served by a walkway through which one could reach the guardhouse in the south-west,
the guest quarters in the west wing and the workshops in the south wing, was accessi-
ble from the main entrance at the front of the west wing. A direct connection to the
church was provided by an opening in the wall shared with the cloister between the
choir and the east wing, intended to house the refectory, the kitchen, the larder and the
staircase connecting the dormitory cells, the night choir and the library on the upper
floor [11]. The life of the architectural complex, conceived as a completely autonomous
structure, was founded on the perfect balance between contemplative solitude and
communal prayer and the profound link between the closed spaces of the monastery
and the open spaces of the farm on which it was built, useful for taking advantage of the
resources offered by nature and necessary for self-sustenance.
    A high, rectangular limestone fence, which has remained unchanged for over two
centuries [12], ensured that the monastery, surrounded on three sides by the kitchen
garden was separate from the open countryside (Figure 5, I)4. The ‘garden’, accessible
from the hallway between the refectory and the kitchen, was divided into four rectan-
gular sectors, crossed diagonally by interior pathways that survived until the early


                                                                                               409
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                                   Figure 4. Conversano, the main construction phases of the Capuchin Monastery.




                                                                                                                            Figure 5. Conversano, construction phases of the cemetery.

                                                                                                            1920s, two of which were presumably used for cultivating olive trees, fruit trees and
                                                                                                            vines, and the other two for vegetables and pulses [13]. Over time, the configuration of
                                                                                                            the architectural complex, while maintaining its original layout for a long time, demon-
                                                                                                            strated a certain flexibility with gradual adaptations to the changing needs of an ev-
                                                                                                            er-growing fraternity [14]. A first expansion was documented between 1629 and 1659,
                                                                                                            when the addition of four chapels and the sacristy [15] to the north of the church, and
                                                                                                            the expansion of the west wing to accommodate a woollen mill on the ground floor [16]
                                                                                                            and a new library on the upper floor (Figure 4, II)3 were recorded. In 1694, a new phase
                                                                                                            of development began for the monastery. The letters and numbers – A.D. 1694 – are
                                                                                                            engraved on the lintel of a door in one of the rooms of the woollen mill, which dates its
                                                                                                            construction. When a novitiate was established in 1769 [17], various works were un-


                                                                         410
dertaken including the construction of a new chapel to the south-east of the church
(Figure 4, III)3, the extension of the choir towards the east, the enlargement of the refec-
tory, the extension of the southern wing towards the southeast.
    The ancient staircase and two porticoed wings of the cloister were eliminated and re-
placed by a new vertical connection between the ground floor and the upper floor in which
the number of cells, built above the chapels located north of the church, was increased.


   3. The transformation of the site and expansions from 1817 to 1927

    In 1811, the monastery was suppressed when the Napoleonic laws were imple-
mented. It reopened in 1817 and recommenced accommodating the community of fri-
ars, even though it had suffered a drastic reduction in numbers [18].
    It was during this time that the area pertaining to the monastery, which had re-
mained unscathed by the transformations that had affected the Capuchin structure,
became the object of interest for the public authorities who, for reasons of hygiene and
health, and because the tombs had reached full capacity in the cathedral, pushed for
new burial places outside the town centre.
    The problem was addressed in 1812, after a local debate developed around the
health emergency, when the out-of-town churches of the suppressed monasteries of the
Carmelites, the Paulites and the Capuchins were earmarked to house the first tombs [19].
    Gennaro Carelli (1797-1818), the Bishop of Conversano, had for some time been
saying, “I have ranted about it infinite times, proposing the solution of a regular cemetery
which could very well be done in a corner of the garden of the suppressed Capuchin
monastery [...], but never have my wishes been granted” [20], regarding the discontent
about church burials. The idea of building a real cemetery on vacant land gained strength
in 1817, when it was decided to allocate part of the Capuchin land for future burials.
    From this moment on, the fate of the fraternity’s walled garden changed, marked by
the events that led to the construction of the Conversano Cemetery [21].




                                                                                                 CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
    In fact, the construction of the cemetery, over time, entailed demolishing some sec-
tions of the monastery’s boundary wall, resulting in the current layout.
    Only a few portions of the ancient wall survive today: a section of the west wall along
the road, Strada dei Cappuccini, part of the east wall stretching 20 linear metres, and the
entire south wall, which, despite some lean-to buildings, retains its original position and
reach (Figure 6)5.
    Once the site was chosen, on 12 September 1817, Alessandro Sciorsi drew up an
expert’s report to build the cemetery, “in the northern portion of the Capuchin Garden,
known as the back garden”. The cemetery would be bordered by a wall to be built from
scratch on three sides, with the north wall of the Capuchin enclosure as the fourth side.
This would have made it possible to comply with the instructions contained in Article 4
of the Regulations issued on 21 March 1817.
    The intention to build the cemetery seems to have been realised on 19 August 1819,
when the Cathedral Chapter resolved the voluntary transfer to the municipality of a
piece of arable land bordering the Capuchin estate (Figure 5, II)4.
    The executive project (Figure 7)6 was entrusted to the engineer Matteo Pascazio,
who, having abandoned the initial idea of building the cemetery inside the Capuchin
Garden, on 15 January 1820, drew up an evaluative report of the site where the cem-
etery was to be built (Stato estimativo della opera che richiede la costruzione del cam-
posanto), accompanied by a map of the municipality of Conversano and its surround-
ings (Pianta ostensiva del comune di Conversano e sue adiacenze) [22].


                                                                                               411
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                                      Figure 6. Conversano, the surviving boundary wall of the Capuchin Garden.




                                                                                                            Figure 7. Ostensive plan of the municipality of Conversano and its surroundings, Matteo Pascazio,
                                                                                                            1820 [23].


                                                                             412
    In drawing the area intended for the cemetery, the author resorts to graphic devices
that make the design idea clear.
    North of the walled garden of the monastery is a red rectangle, intended as the
future cemetery, included in a larger yellow area coinciding with farmland owned by the
Cathedral Chapter.
    The plan for the cemetery is entrusted to a second drawing that clarifies the con-
ceptual layout [23].
    The rectangular area, bordered by a 2-palm-thick and 11.5-palm-high boundary wall,
is separated into four equivalent sections for burials by two mutually orthogonal paths
and a circular one. An entrance portal in the centre of the western side, leading into a
distribution vestibule with side entrances to service rooms, emphasises the east-west
axis that becomes the preferred direction of interior circulation in the courtyard (Figure 8)7.




                                                                                                     CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE




Figure 8. Plan of the Camposanto of the municipality of Conversano with 7572 inhabitants, Matteo
Pascazio, 1820 [23].

    The project, which envisaged a chapel with an underground burial ground in a
barycentric position at the junction of the two perpendicular paths and arches at the
midpoints of three of the four sides at the junction with the circular path, was soon
shelved due to the lack of funding.
    Throughout the 1920s and much of the 1930s, planning for the cemetery came to
a standstill, which is why it was decided to use the burial areas of the Carmine, Capu-
chin and Isola churches.
    But a cholera epidemic forced the problem of building the cemetery to be brought
up again, so much so that the Chapter clergy confirmed their willingness – already


                                                                                                   413
                                                                                                            expressed in 1819 – to give up the land bordering the Capuchin estate and thus allow
                                                                                                            the cemetery to be built.
                                                                                                                 The following sentence is quoted in the resolution of 20 June 1838: “il Capitolo
                                                                                                            cede al Comune per uso di camposanto il fondo seminatoriale di circa tomola cinque,
                                                                                                            detto Chiuso di Margaritonda, continuo alle fabbriche del giardino del convento de’
                                                                                                            Cappuccini”, which meant that a part of the agricultural land pertinent to the Capuchin
                                                                                                            monastery was to be yielded from the college of canons to the municipality to be used
                                                                                                            as a cemetery in return for some lease payments.
                                                                                                                 The project entrusted to the architect Saverio Alfarano [24] echoed the 1820 ver-
                                                                                                            sion as it had the same layout, the same elements, and the same distributive aspects,
                                                                                                            but it modified the extension of the cemetery and its position to the east of the estate,
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                            with access on the south side, unlike the previous solution (Figure 5, III)4.
                                                                                                                 The work, started in 1840 and interrupted in 1847, concerned the construction of a
                                                                                                            part of the monumental buildings of the cemetery, in particular the access portal in
                                                                                                            neoclassical style and the entrance hall equipped with two rooms for the caretaker;
                                                                                                            however, the construction of the quadripartite space, of the church in the center and of
                                                                                                            the noble ‘arcades’ located along the perimeter wall, had not yet been completed.
                                                                                                                 Life in the monastery, meanwhile, continued undisturbed. In fact, work resumed
                                                                                                            within the Capuchin structure in 1841, this time aimed at reconfiguring the church with
                                                                                                            the construction of a new, lower barrel vault, the erection of a semi-circular tympanum
                                                                                                            on the façade and the reconstruction of the bell gable [25], the addition of two more
                                                                                                            chapels on the south side, the demolition of the cells that had been erected above the
                                                                                                            chapels on the north side of the church [26] and the demolition and reconstruction of
                                                                                                            the north-east wing (Figure 5, IV) 4.
                                                                                                                 The completion of the works, begun in 1840, was entrusted to the architect, Sante
                                                                                                            Simone (1823-1894), who, on 10 January 1860, drew up an art project for the comple-
                                                                                                            tion of the cemetery (Progetto d’arte per il completamento del camposanto) [27].
                                                                                                                 The architect placed the single-chamber church in the centre, in line with the en-
                                                                                                            trance towards which the façade is oriented, surrounded on three sides by the Capu-
                                                                                                            chin burial sections (Figure 4, IV)3.
                                                                                                                 While work was proceeding, in 1861, the Capuchin monastery fell victim to the
                                                                                                            suppression of religious orders and congregations ratified by Royal Decree No. 3036
                                                                                                            of 7 July 1866, at first passing to the state and then to the municipality [28].
                                                                                                                 Immediately afterwards, a violent cholera epidemic broke out in 1867, which forced
                                                                                                            it to be converted into a hospital.
                                                                                                                 Having examined the possibility of occupying part of the Capuchin garden “for the
                                                                                                            burial of the corpses of the cholera ridden” and, immediately after verifying the impos-
                                                                                                            sibility of arranging a “provisional cemetery for burials” due to the objective difficulty of
                                                                                                            excavating the rock in a short time and filling it with soil, the work was accelerated and
                                                                                                            concluded with the construction of the fourth and last section, in addition to those com-
                                                                                                            pleted twenty years earlier.
                                                                                                                 In 1874 the definitive configuration of the cemetery was determined: the noble
                                                                                                            tombs were built, the avenues were created, and square-shaped spaces were crea-
                                                                                                            ted in front of the church with the aim of enlarging the churchyard. Although the areas
                                                                                                            designated for the noble burial grounds were arranged along the inner perimeter, as
                                                                                                            documented in the plan, these would, in fact, not retain the dimensions and precise
                                                                                                            symmetry envisaged in the plan because they were left to the discretion of individual
                                                                                                            private patrons.
                                                                                                                 Another cholera epidemic in 1886 necessitated a new expansion of the cemetery
                                                                                                            area. Having resumed architect Sante Simone’s only partially realised plan, it was de-


                                                                          414
cided to set aside the monumental part, which was considered less urgent and more
expensive, and opt for batches of work deemed more pressing and could be started in
separate stages.
    In October 1888, the municipal technical office drew up a plan, divided into two plots,
which provided for the arrangement of two new burial areas, called terraces, in which
entombment would be prohibited [29] (Figure 5, V)4. Pending the completion of the new
terraces, an area of land was to function as a “temporary cemetery for inhumation”.
    The work to expand the cemetery, consisting of demolishing a section of the mon-
astery wall on the eastern side and “filling in the terraces” with soil taken from the Ca-
puchin Garden, continued in 1893, followed two years later by supplementary works
and repairs to the monastery walls.
    As further expansion of the cemetery became necessary, in 1896, the Conversano
municipal council passed a provision for works, in order to complete the cemetery
(Provvedimento pei lavori di completamento del cimitero), proposing the construction
of a second section [30].
    In keeping with the desire to respect the layout of the old cemetery, the expansion
project identifies two new burial areas to the east and west of the existing cemetery,
with the necessary areas being purchased from the land owned by Francesco Berardi
and the heirs of Accolti Gil (Figure 5, VI) 4.
    In the report attached to the project to enlarge and reorganise the Conversano
Cemetery (Progetto dell’ampliamento e sistemazione del cimitero di Conversano)
drafted in 1898 [31], the engineer, Oronzo Grassi transposed the administrative pro-
visions by planning for the relocation of the inhumation sections from the garden of
the Capuchins to the side plots of the old cemetery intended for new burials [32]
(Figures 9 and 10)8.




                                                                                                CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE




Figure 9. Project for the enlargement and reorganisation of the Conversano Cemetery, plan,
Oronzo Grassi, 1899 [32].


                                                                                              415
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                            Figure 10. Project for the enlargement and layout/reorganisation of the Conversano Cemetery,
                                                                                                            perspectives and sections, Oronzo Grassi, 1899 [32].

                                                                                                                The pre-existing cemetery was placed between two new burial areas and was em-
                                                                                                            phasized through the creation of a semi-circular open space in front of the entrance;
                                                                                                            this semicircular space was delimited by a retaining wall with flower beds and bordered
                                                                                                            by an avenue connecting with the Strada dei Cappuccini.
                                                                                                                Thanks to the new configuration of the cemetery (which would have allowed the
                                                                                                            ex-convent garden to be freed) and to the excellent quality of the soil, the garden could
                                                                                                            be used for agricultural cultivation and no longer for burial, guaranteeing a significant
                                                                                                            annual income (“rilevante rendita annuale”).
                                                                                                                The proposal made by the municipal authority as early as 1893 to transfer the ar-
                                                                                                            chitectural complex to the Capuchin friars with the obligation to keep and maintain the
                                                                                                            cemetery, can be traced back to a not entirely disinterested desire for rehabilitation.
                                                                                                                The clause included in the agreement submitted to the religious order to give up
                                                                                                            part of the monastery in the event of an epidemic to establish a lazaret there, was not
                                                                                                            met with the favour of either the friars or the provincial council.
                                                                                                                Once the project failed, the church was abandoned and the residential part re-
                                                                                                            mained unused with the inevitable consequence that it rapidly deteriorated, until the
                                                                                                            architectural complex, described as “small and damp” [33], was abandoned in 1901.
                                                                                                                Ten years later, the Capuchin residence was converted into a masseria (ie. a farm),
                                                                                                            the garden rented out [34], and the cloister used as a shelter for herds.
                                                                                                                It was at this juncture that a project to adapt the monastery as a lazaret was ap-
                                                                                                            proved, drawn up by Oronzo Grassi [35], who had arranged for the demolition of a
                                                                                                            section of the garden wall near the south-west corner, with the aim of creating an au-
                                                                                                            tonomous entrance and constructing an exterior staircase [36] to reach some cells on
                                                                                                            the upper floor that had been converted into isolation rooms (Figure 4, V)3.


                                                                           416
    No trace remains of the new staircase, which was demolished with the decommis-
sioning of the lazaret and the 1927 addition, on the south side, of a stable and store-
house [37] (later converted into a marble works, which was, in turn, decommissioned)
(Figure 4, VI)3.
    Grassi drew up another plan for the cemetery, described in a brief report dated 31
March 1910 [38], which envisions the demolition of the previous boundary wall to elim-
inate any separation between the old cemetery and the new one (Figure 5, VII)4. In-
stead, to enlarge the space in front of the entrance, he planned and implemented the
demolition of the north wall of the Capuchin Garden and the removal of a portion of the
land belonging to the monastery.
    From the 1920s onwards, the cemetery area was further expanded to the north
and, in time, filled to capacity (Figure 5, VIII)4, while the Capuchin organisation did not
undergo any further substantial changes, despite the attempt of the municipality of
Conversano to lease the monastery to the Bishop’s Curia, with the aim of establishing
an orphanage there, which was, however, questioned and contravened with the termi-
nation of the contract signed the following year [39].
     A new configuration thus took shape, in which the ancient spatial relationships
between the filled and empty spaces, the built-up and enclosed space of the Capuchin
structure, the walled garden and the farm outside the enclosure changed.
    Following the deprivation of two northern sectors used as parking for the cemetery,
the garden irreversibly changed its extension, its planimetric conformation and the
distribution of crops in three distinct areas: in the northern area, an orderly planting of
olive and fruit trees arranged parallel to the boundary line; in the central area, rows of
vineyards arranged at a different angle to the previous position; finally, in the South-
West area, an orchard with a chaotic arrangement of trees (Figure 11)9.




                                                                                                CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE




                Figure 11. Conversano, view of the Garden in its current state.


                                                                                              417
                                                                                                               4. Conservation and enhancement perspectives

                                                                                                                The fate of the Conversano monastery is not dissimilar to that of other Capuchin
                                                                                                            structures abandoned to themselves, like the monastery of Manfredonia in Capitanata,
                                                                                                            which was eventually swallowed up by the city of the dead, thus losing the reason for
                                                                                                            its existence, or that of Tricase in the extreme southern part of the Terra d’Otranto, ir-
                                                                                                            reversibly separated from and deprived of its ancient vegetable garden.
                                                                                                                These are architectural complexes that have not recovered from the severe blow
                                                                                                            suffered when the confiscation of ecclesiastical heritage followed the suppression of
                                                                                                            religious orders. The Capuchin monasteries, which sprang up outside the walls along
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                            the routes of alms collection and preaching, are tangible evidence of a broad process
                                                                                                            of diffusion and stabilisation of the Capuchin in the region, between the 16th and 17th
                                                                                                            centuries, becoming, over time, undisputed and indispensable resources for local
                                                                                                            communities. The splitting up of the property following State acquisition, the transfor-
                                                                                                            mations that have taken place as a result of changing needs, additions, amputations,
                                                                                                            replacements, subsequent decommissioning and consequent abandonment have
                                                                                                            downgraded these structures from territorial garrisons to marginalised places.
                                                                                                                From this point of view, the Conversano monastery is a paradigmatic case that of-
                                                                                                            fers particularly significant food for thought on the meaning and role that an architec-
                                                                                                            tural structure, such as the one described, can assume in a profoundly changed con-
                                                                                                            text. The change in spatial relationships that has occurred over time, compared to the
                                                                                                            wealth of available documents, useful for retracing its complex history, makes it possi-
                                                                                                            ble to debate not only the reality of the layers that characterise its architecture and
                                                                                                            main site, but also the possibility for restoration to reinterpret the whole and redefine its
                                                                                                            current identity as a stratified structure.
                                                                                                                These are architectural structures with extraordinarily rich historical layers, which
                                                                                                            are the result of centuries-old events whose signs have been obscured, altered and
                                                                                                            disfigured over time for reasons related to the contingency of the historical moment but
                                                                                                            which have become part of a new figurative context.
                                                                                                                These are events that must be investigated and understood to raise awareness of
                                                                                                            the value of what remains in its varied configuration as well as the vulnerability of a
                                                                                                            heritage that is still not taken enough into consideration. If history is able to unveil the
                                                                                                            signs of change through the investigation of sources, the analysis of material data with
                                                                                                            their great documentary potential, restoration has the task of interpreting, making
                                                                                                            sense of the multiplicity of traces found, but also preserving and transmitting to the
                                                                                                            future the information, messages and meanings that the artefact expresses, even with-
                                                                                                            in a changed context – which must certainly be welcomed – allowing it to be used and
                                                                                                            enjoyed again as far as possible.


                                                                                                               Notes

                                                                                                               1
                                                                                                                  Top view of the cemetery site of Conversano (drawing by N. Catella, 2019).
                                                                                                               2
                                                                                                                  In Figure 2, western facade of the Capuchin Monastery in Conversano, survey of
                                                                                                            current state, photo by M.A. Catella, N. Catella, V.A. Barnabà, 2011. In Figure 3, hori-
                                                                                                            zontal section of the Capuchin Monastery in Conversano, survey of current state
                                                                                                            (drawings by M.A. Catella, N. Catella, V.A. Barnabà, 2011).
                                                                                                                3
                                                                                                                  The main construction phases of the Capuchin Monastery in Conversano: I. The
                                                                                                            original unit; II. The addition of four chapels and the sacristy, the expansion of the west


                                                                          418
wing to accommodate a woollen mill on the ground floor and a new library on the upper
floor; III. The new chapel to the south-east of the church, the expansion of the choir
towards the east, the expansion of the refectory, the sacrifice of the old staircase and
two porticoed wings of the cloister to make a new staircase, the increase in the number
of cells in the dormitory above the chapels to the north of the church, the further expan-
sion of the southern wing towards the south-east; IV. The reconfiguration of the church,
the addition on the south side of two more chapels, the demolition of the cells above
the chapels on the north side of the church, the demolition and reconstruction of the
north-east wing; V. The plan for the municipal technical office; VI. The addition on the
south side of a stable and storage room (drawings by M.A. Catella, N. Catella, V.A.
Barnabà, 2011).
     4
       Cemetery of Conversano construction phases: I. The original walled garden; II.
Matteo Pascazio’s plan; III. Saverio Alfarano’s plan; IV. Sante Simone’s plan; V. The
plan for the municipal technical office; VI. Oronzo Grassi’s first plan; VII. Oronzo Gras-
si’s second plan; VIII. The most recent expansion (drawings by N. Catella, 2019).
     5
       The surviving boundary wall of the Capuchin Garden in Conversano (drawings by
N. Catella, 2019).
     6
       Matteo Pascazio, 1820, Pianta ostensiva del Comune di Conversano e sue adia-
cenze, ASBA, Intendenza, b.23, file no. 155. Drawing on a scale of 2,000 palms, 46 x
59 cm, colour paper, 15/01/1820. Transcription of the Legend: A. Pianta della Città di
Conversano; 1. Porta del Castello; 2. Porta di Acquaviva; 3. Porta del Carmine; 4.
Porta del Casal Vecchio; 5. Strada di Castellana; 6. Strada di Monopoli; 7. Strada di
Polignano; 8. Via del Monte; 9. Via vicinale; 10. Monistero degli Ex Padotti; 11. Strada
de Cappuccini; 12. Cappella di S. M. della Miseria; 13. Monistero e Giardino de Cap-
puccini; 14. Strada dell’Isola; 15. Cappella di S. Rocco; 16. Strada di Acquaviva; 17.
Strada di Turi; 18. Monistero del Carmine. Nota: Il color giallo indica la pianta del terri-
torio prescelto per lo Camposanto. Il color rosso indica la posizione, figura ed esten-
sione di detto Camposanto. Translation of the text in the Figure: Extensive plan of the




                                                                                                 CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
Municipality of Conversano and its surroundings, with indication of the site chosen for
the construction of the Camposanto Legend: A. Plan of the city of Conversano; 1. gate
of the Castle; 2. Acquaviva Gate; 3. Carmine Gate; 4. Casal Vecchio gate; 5. Castella-
na road; 6. Street of Monopoli; 7. Polignano road; 8. Via del Monastero; 9. Local road;
10. Monastery of the Ex Padotti; 11. Strada de Cappuccini; 12. Chapel of S. M. della
Miseria; 13. Monastery and Garden of the Capuchins; 14. Island Road; 15. Chapel of
S. Rocco; 16. Acquaiva road; 17. Street of Turi; 18. Carmelite Monastery. Note: The
yellow color indicates the plan of the territory chosen for the Camposanto. The red
color indicates the position, shape and extension of said Camposanto. The engineer of
the 3rd division of the General Directorate of Bari Matteo Pascazio.
     7
       Matteo Pascazio, 1820, Pianta del Camposanto del Comune di Conversano di
7572 abitanti, ASBA, Intendenza, b.23, file no. 155. Drawing on a scale of 150 palms,
ink and watercolour. Transcription of the Legend: A. Terreno destinato all’inumazione
de cadaveri; B. Cappella con Cimitero al disotto; C. Scala del Cimitero; D. Camere per
il custode; E. Arcate gentilizie. Translation of the text in the Figure: Plan of the Cam-
po-santo of the Municipality of Conversano of 7572 inhabitants. Legend: A. Land in-
tended for burial; B. Chapel with Cemetery below; C. Staircase of the Cemetery; D.
Caretaker’s rooms; E. Gentile Arcades. The engineer of the 3rd division of the General
Directorate of Bari Matteo Pascazio.
     8
       Oronzo Grassi, 1899, Progetto di ampliamento e sistemazione del Cimitero di
Conversano, ASBA, Intendenza, b.29, file no. 35. Plan on a 1:500 scale, 33 x 52.5 cm


                                                                                               419
                                                                                                            and Perspectives and sections on a 1:250 scale (transcript of captions from top to
                                                                                                            bottom: Metà del prospetto; Metà destra della sezione trasversale; Metà sinistra della
                                                                                                            sezione trasversale; Sezione longitudinale sulla WJ), 41 x 62 cm, ink and watercolour
                                                                                                            on glossy canvas. Translation of the text in Figure 9: Project for the expansion and ar-
                                                                                                            rangement of the Conversano Cemetery – Scale 1:500. Legend: 1. Church; 2. Via del
                                                                                                            Camposanto; 3. Via dei Cappuccini; 4. Abolished Capuchin Convent. Translation of the
                                                                                                            text in Figure 10: Project for the expansion of the Conversano Cemetery. From top to
                                                                                                            bottom: Half of the Project; Right half of cross section; Left Half of Cross Section; Lon-
                                                                                                            gitudinal section on the WJ; Longitudinal section on the YX. Scale of the drawings in
                                                                                                            this plate 1:250.
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                                9
                                                                                                                  View of the Garden in its current state (photo by N. Catella, 2019).


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       antiquae (1529-1643), Curia Generalis, Roma, p. 174.
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       santi, Cartography, b. 23, file no. 155, ing. Matteo Pascazio, 15/01/1820.
[13]   L’Abate, V., (1994), Un asilo per l’umana polvere. I cimiteri in terra di Bari tra
       crisi sanitarie e problemi amministrativi, Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, pp. 38,
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       cappuccina di Puglia tra dinamiche insediative e pratiche di vita comunitaria,
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       tional Seminar (Lisbon, 24 September 2020), João Luís Fontes, eds. Lisbon,
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[15]   Fanelli. A., (1987), Cronotassi episcopale della Chiesa di Conversano. Note
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                                                                                                  CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
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       nata di studi storici sull’architettura cappuccina, edizioni Autem, Trento, p. 179;
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[17]   Sibilia, P., (2010), Conversano nell’età moderna, vivere tra pietre millenarie,
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[18]   Inventario degli arredi sagri de soppressi Padri Cappuccini ai 3 giugno 1817.
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                                                                                                421
                                                                                                            [22]   Pascazio, M., (1820) 1, Pianta ostensiva del Comune di Conversano, e sue
                                                                                                                   adiacenze, Archivio di Stato di Bari (ASBA), Intendenza di Terra di Bari, Campi-
                                                                                                                   santi, Cartography, b. 23, file no. 155, ing. Matteo Pascazio, 15/01/1820.
                                                                                                            [23]   Pascazio, M., (1820) 2, Pianta del Camposanto del Comune di Conversano di
                                                                                                                   7572 abitanti, ASBA, Intendenza, b. 23, file no. 155, ing. Matteo Pascazio, 1820.
                                                                                                            [24]   L’Abate, V., (1994), Un asilo per l’umana polvere. I cimiteri in terra di Bari tra
                                                                                                                   crisi sanitarie e problemi amministrativi, Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, p. 51.
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                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, pp. 3-4.
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                                                                                                            [26]   De Nigris, S., ed. (1984), Concorso di idee per un progetto di restauro e di riuti-
                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, p. 6.
                                                                                                            [27]   L’Abate, V., (1994), Un asilo per l’umana polvere. I cimiteri in terra di Bari tra crisi
                                                                                                                   sanitarie e problemi amministrativi, Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, p. 66; L’Abate,
                                                                                                                   V., (1995), Conversano. Cimitero, progettazione e lavori (1864-1890). In L’Abate
                                                                                                                   V., ed. L’architetto Sante Simone (1823-1894), Schena editore, pp. 141-150.
                                                                                                            [28]   L’Abate, V., (2005), Ricerche storiche su Conversano e dintorni, Vol. III età
                                                                                                                   moderna e contemporanea (secc. XVII – XIX), Tipografia Pineta, Conversa-
                                                                                                                   no, pp. 167-169.
                                                                                                            [29]   L’Abate, V., (2005), Ricerche storiche su Conversano e dintorni, Vol. III età moder-
                                                                                                                   na e contemporanea (secc. XVII – XIX), Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, p. 110.
                                                                                                            [30]   L’Abate, V., (2005), Ricerche storiche su Conversano e dintorni, Vol. III età moder-
                                                                                                                   na e contemporanea (secc. XVII - XIX), Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, p. 110.
                                                                                                            [31]   L’Abate, V., (2005), Ricerche storiche su Conversano e dintorni, Vol. III età mo-
                                                                                                                   derna e contemporanea (secc. XVII – XIX), Tipografia Pineta, Conversano,
                                                                                                                   pp.116-121.
                                                                                                            [32]   Grassi, O., (1899), “Progetto di ampliamento e sistemazione del Cimitero di
                                                                                                                   Conversano”. Planimetria, Prospetti e sezioni, ASBA, Intendenza, b. 29, file
                                                                                                                   no. 35.
                                                                                                            [33]   De Nigris, S., ed. (1984), Concorso di idee per un progetto di restauro e di riuti-
                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, pp. 5-6.
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                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, p. 6.
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                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, p. 7.
                                                                                                            [36]   Deliberazioni della Giunta Comunale di Conversano del 1911, Archivio Storico
                                                                                                                   di Conversano (ASC), resolution 36, no. dispatch 1929, cat. 24, file no. 9.
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                                                                                                                   lizzo del Convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, scheda storico-artistica della
                                                                                                                   chiesa e del convento dei Cappuccini in Conversano, Bari, pp. 7-9.
                                                                                                            [38]   L’Abate, V., (1994), Un asilo per l’umana polvere. I cimiteri in terra di Bari tra crisi
                                                                                                                   sanitarie e problemi amministrativi, Tipografia Pineta, Conversano, pp 121-122.
                                                                                                            [39]   Contratto d’appalto dei lavori di adattamento dei cortili dell’ex convento dei Cap-
                                                                                                                   puccini (1927), Archivio Storico di Conversano (ASC), register 14, resolution 3,
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                                                                        422
Biographical notes

    Rossella de Cadilhac is an Associate Professor for SSD ICAR/19 (Restoration
Studies). She teaches and does research for the Department of Architecture, Con-
struction and Design at the Politecnico di Bari.
    She has published monographs, essays, and contributions in national and interna-
tional conference proceedings. She researches the protection, conservation and res-
toration of architectural heritage and historic cities, with a focus on the architecture of
mendicant orders and fortified buildings. She teaches “Cognitive Tools for the Study of
Heritage” in the 3rd year of “Restoration Studies” and “Construction”.
    ‟Theories and Techniques in their Historical Development” as part of the Restoration
Laboratory in the 4th year of the Master’s programme in Architecture, as well as “Theory
of Restoration” at the School of Specialisation in Architectural and Landscape Heritage.
    She is also a member of the teaching staff for the Design for Heritage: Knowledge,
Tradition and Innovation PhD programme and Engineering for the Sustainability and
Safety of Civil and Industrial Buildings PhD programme at the Politecnico di Bari.


   Summary

     In the first decades of the 19th century, local authorities in Capitanata, Terra di Bari
and Terra d’Otranto set about acquiring extramural land and preparing plans for new
cemeteries in application of the health laws passed in 1817 during the Bourbon Resto-
ration, complying with the provisions of the Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud.
     The idea of acquiring places of worship outside the city walls, including suppressed
monasteries, with their walled gardens that could be included in the enclosures of the
erected cemeteries, immediately appeared to be a useful expedient for overcoming the
difficulty of devising a new spatial model for burials, taking advantage of architectural




                                                                                                  CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
structures that offered the dual advantage of counting on significant cost containment
and maintaining a strong link to the ancient Christian tradition of burial in a sacred place.
This entailed redesigning the relationship between the built and enclosed spaces of
many Capuchin structures, which were deprived of their walled garden with the inevita-
ble transformation of the site and, as a result, were forced to redetermine its semantics.
     In the case of Conversano, the varying spatial relationships pose a problem that
can be addressed by resorting to a project to conserve and enhance the Capuchin
structure, so as to renew the mutually beneficial coexistence between the monastery
and the cemetery by bringing together what has survived of the walled garden and
what has become part of the garden of memory.


   Riassunto

    Nei primi decenni del XIX secolo le autorità locali in Capitanata, Terra di Bari e
Terra d’Otranto si accingono ad acquistare terreni extra moenia e a predisporre proget-
ti per i nuovi camposanti in applicazione delle leggi sanitarie varate nel 1817, durante
la Restaurazione Borbonica, a conferma delle prescrizioni dell’editto napoleonico di
Saint-Cloud. L’idea di acquisire al patrimonio comunale luoghi di culto esterni alla cinta
urbana, ivi compresi i conventi soppressi con i loro giardini murati che potevano esse-
re inclusi nei recinti degli erigendi camposanti, appare subito un utile espediente per


                                                                                                423
                                                                                                            superare la difficoltà di ideare un nuovo modello spaziale destinato alle sepolture, po-
                                                                                                            tendo usufruire di organismi architettonici che offrivano il duplice vantaggio di contare
                                                                                                            su un significativo contenimento dei costi e di mantenere un forte legame con l’antica
                                                                                                            tradizione cristiana dell’inumazione in un luogo sacro. Questo ha comportato un ridise-
                                                                                                            gno del rapporto fra i volumi costruiti e gli spazi recintati di molti organismi cappuccini,
                                                                                                            mutilati del giardino murato, con un’inevitabile trasformazione del sito costretto ad una
                                                                                                            rideterminazione semantica.
                                                                                                                Nel caso di Conversano i variati rapporti spaziali pongono un nodo problematico
                                                                                                            che può essere affrontato ricorrendo ad un progetto di conservazione e valorizzazione
                                                                                                            dell’organismo cappuccino, attento ad una rinnovata convivenza fra il convento e il
Rossella de Cadilhac - Old monasteries and new cemeteries. The case of the Capuchins in Conversano, Italy




                                                                                                            camposanto, fra quanto sopravvissuto del giardino murato e quanto entrato a far parte
                                                                                                            del giardino della memoria.




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