The Church of Saint Benedict (Chiesa di San Benedetto) in Salerno has Roman origins that can be traced back to its architectural elements and the historical context of the city. While the church itself may not date back to Roman times, some of its architectural features and materials have Roman origins, as is common in many European churches.

• Use of Roman Columns: One of the key indicators of Roman influence in the Church of Saint Benedict is the use of Roman columns. The columns used in the church might have been repurposed from ancient Roman buildings or quarries. This was a common practice during the medieval period, where builders often reused materials from older structures.

• Roman Presence in Salerno: Salerno, like many other cities in Italy, was influenced by Roman civilization. During the Roman era, Salerno was known as "Salernum" and was a significant port city. While there may not be direct evidence of a Roman church on the site, the Roman presence in the area likely influenced the architectural styles and materials used in later constructions.

• Medieval Reuse of Roman Elements: Throughout Europe, including Italy, the medieval period saw the reuse of Roman materials and architectural elements. This was partly due to the practicality of repurposing existing materials, but it also connected the new Christian buildings to the grandeur of the Roman Empire.

In summary, the Church of Saint Benedict in Salerno incorporates Roman architectural elements and materials, reflecting the historical continuity and reuse of materials from earlier periods in the construction of medieval churches. This practice was common throughout Europe and served to link the Christian era with the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Assembly and dismantling of wooden houses. Economic availability and temporariness

The ruralization of cities in the early medieval period is a phenomenon common to the entire Italian peninsula, and the Orto Magno of Salerno has been cited several times as a significant example of a settlement dynamic which envisages leaving, in its evolution, ample space for arable land right inside the city walls. 

The presence of monastic institutions, often of noble foundations, must necessarily have contributed to influencing the expansion of the urban fabric, which absorbed, together with the heritage of the Sacred Palace, the lands of a large part of the urban space. 

The Great Garden included the land assets of the monastery of San Benedetto, a powerful dependency of Montecassino, which managed them by entrusting them to colonists with emphyteusis contracts. Often even in the core of the city, religious bodies owned building land, for which it was possible to obtain, in exchange for an annual census, permission to build houses which, at the end of the contract, could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere, because they were mainly wooden.