The Magnificent Temple Becomes a Military Structure: Transformations and Models in Mondovì and Savona between the 16th and 17th Centuries

Abstract

When the dominion of the sacred is read against the light, what are the morphological and urban implications of spaces, architecture and religious presences that must give way to logics and policies that dominate them? As an interesting key study, we can analyse the demolition of the cathedral in Mondovì, a flourishing cultural centre in Piedmont, when it was decided to transform the magnificent temple into a military structure in 1573. The overall architectural and urban dimension of the building was totally transformed. The civil and religious architecture, that was consolidated in the post-Tridentine period, underwent disruptive transformations when the city was the seat of Bishop Michele Ghislieri (later Pius V). Mondovì was characterised by exceptional intellectual vivacity, if compared to other Piedmontese centers, with the university, an avant-garde typography, the Jesuit college. At a time when the choices and priorities regarding the urban vocation were renewed, new real estate and demographic dynamics were defined, linked to the resilience of religious orders and new social groups. This paper deals with the analysis and comparison between different documentary and iconographic sources, which are not a homogeneous corpus but allow the study of the religious presence in the city and the verification of urban policies. The essay also tries to focus on dynamics not yet explored and by direct comparison with other cities, in particular with Savona and its transformations after the loss of autonomy in 1528.

Keywords

• history of architecture
• urban strategies
• urban heritage
• religious heritage
• military architecture