Architecture and territory. The former convent of the Maddalena in Castel di Sangro

The former convent of the Maddalena expresses, for its history, a strong link with the place where it arose, representing a territorial architectural asset. Built on the outskirts of the town of Castel di Sangro as a hospice intended to collect pilgrims who “crossed the Via dell’Abruzzo in both directions”, it still maintains a position detached from the center of the town, beyond the river Sangro, testifying a part of the history of the territory. The ancient structure was then occupied in the fifteenth century by a community of Minori Osservanti, who used to live in makeshift shelters outside the urban agglomerations. Only when Pope Gregory IX ordered the transfer of the homes of the beggars within the inhabited areas, thanks to public and private charity, buildings to be restored were granted to the Friars Minor. The first convents of the Order of the Minorite Order, including the former convent of La Maddalena, began to rise, which became not only a centre of religious activity, but also a place of social activity. The contribution aims to investigate, through the tools of representation, the territorial principle that underlies this type of religious architecture as an added value to project the life of the former convent of the Maddalena in a sustainable future.