The urban furnishings of Baroque Apulia – especially spires, votive columns, and corner elements in Terra d’Otranto – form a heritage of remarkable symbolic and architectural value, yet one rarely studied systematically. Long considered “minor” features, they in fact play a key role in shaping urban space. To address this complexity, a GIS-based digital analysis system has been developed, conceived not only as an archive but as a dynamic tool able to correlate spatial, typological, and chronological data. This approach overcomes the limits of traditional methods, based on morphological or formal criteria, which are inadequate for managing and interpreting such an extensive and diverse corpus. It provides new insights into the relationships among form, context, and function. The use of Spatial Humanities methodologies integrates material and immaterial data, producing a critical mapping of the visual and symbolic networks that define the Apulian urban landscape. Continuously updatable, the GIS platform becomes an operational model for documenting, managing, and enhancing widespread urban heritage, opening interdisciplinary research perspectives and supporting the protection of minor architectural assets.
