Le chiese duplices dell’Ordine di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme (secoli XII-XIII)

Description

This research focuses on the analysis of two-storey churches commissioned by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem around the 12th and 13th centuries, which have the peculiar characteristic of having two independent worship rooms superimposed one on top of the other. The reason why the Hospitallers decided to lean towards the two-storey solution is the main question of this work, and more specifically, whether it should be seen as a response to an architectural iconography or purely to practical needs. Through an interdisciplinary methodological approach, which links the aesthetic and material aspects to the functional elements and to the historical background, it is possible to understand the functions of the monasteries, their role within the region in which they arose and the ways in which the different groups of believers used the spaces.