Two cases of reuse in Campania: the church of St. Peter in Crapolla and the bell tower of the Pietrasanta in Naples

It is now well-known from several studies that there exist different types of re-use in which the discriminating factor is that of visibility or less of the spolia and, in the case of visibility, when it also transmits the intention of showing off ancient elements as vehicles to transmit meanings. The history of these studies is vast and was set in motion by Deichman’s, Esch’s, Brilliant’s and Settis’s works. In the last few years all this has led to a significant international Colloquy on Reimpiego in architettura (Reuse in Architecture) which took place in Rome in 2008. This has set up a time space to re-think about the thematic on spolia and has re-introduced methodological aspects which underline the architectonic language and the image as a research instrument which passes over typological classifications, on the one hand, and traditional reading of architectonic spaces which have gone beyond the components of the elevations on the other. In this contribution we want to speak about two particular cases, i.e. the Basilica of Crapolla on the Sorrentine Peninsula and the bell tower of Pietrasanta in Naples. Because of their understanding as a result of the state they are in at present − the building of Crapolla is quite completely lost, only the bell tower survives in the case of the Pietrasanta complex − it is necessary to have recourse to a research methodology which takes advantage of the traditional instruments of the "material culture" of classification of the surviving architectonic elements. However the research must be integrated also with instruments which can be read semantically. In fact the architectonic language can be transmitted to the buildings' user as he possesses a “sense of the ancient” which allows the architectonic signs to be recognized as suitable in the space with which he interacts. In this sense, the architectonic spoils take on a fundamental role which passes over the utility or only aesthetic motivations which led to their choice.