Maria Santissima Annunziata dei Catalani (Messina) 00

The Church of the Santissima Annunziata dei Catalani ( it, Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata dei Catalani) is a church in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is an example of

Norman architecture The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used fo ...

in Sicily. The church dates from the 12th century, when Sicily was under

Norman rule Norman Rule (born 28 January 1928) is an Australian former sports shooter. He competed at the 1956, 1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that ...

. Built on top of the ruins of an older temple dedicated to

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

, the church is an example of Sicilian

with its mix of different cultural elements. The church displays influences from Arab and

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until th ...

and also contains

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

elements. Particularly the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

is unusually well-preserved. Previously known as "Annunziata di Castellammare" on account of its proximity to an homonymous medieval fortress which guarded the inlet of the port and shipyard, its later established name derives from merchants from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

who established a presence in Messina in the 16th century. It is one of the few structures to have survived the catastrophic earthquake in 1908 which destroyed most of Messina. As a result of the earthquake the church is situated 3 metres below the reconstructed street level. Church of the Catalans Messina 3

References

External links

* {{Messina Norman architecture in Italy Churches with Norman architecture Roman Catholic churches in Messina

See also

References

External links