Il paesaggio agrario di Montella attraverso l'iconografia del XVIII secolo The agricultural landscape of Montella in 18th century iconography

The archives of the monasteries eliminated during the Murat period are an important historic resource, as the main fonts of information on the agricultural landscapes of the territories once owned by these institutions. The monastery records contain documents of ownership for goods and rights of various kinds, including papal and episcopal bulls on parchment. These documents attest to the privileges and concessions in favor of the religious institutions, enacted from the 15th century onwards. Among the important documents of this type is the "Platea" of the Monastery St. Francesco at Folloni, in the municipality of Montella (Campania). It consists of two volumes (1740-1741), with descriptions and mapped representations of the lands. From these documents, we can develop estimates of the extents of the properties, their uses, and the cultivation practices applied, then comparing this information to that from Provisional Cadastre of 1807, as well as the current agricultural situation.