Santi Pietro E Paolo D'Agrò on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Santi Pietro e Paolo d’Agrò is a church in
File:Chiesa dei SS Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò Pianta 4.jpg, Floor plan
File:Chiesa SS Pietro e Paolo sezione trasversale.jpg, Section
File:Apse Santi Pietro Paolo d'Agrò.jpg, View of the
Santi Pietro e Paolo d’Agrò is a church in Casalvecchio Siculo
Casalvecchio Siculo ( Sicilian: ''Casalvecchiu Sìculu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about southwest of Messina.
Main sights
*Church of ' ...
, in the Metropolitan City of Messina
The Metropolitan City of Messina ( it, Città metropolitana di Messina) is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Messina. It replaced the Province of Messina and comprises the city of Messin ...
on Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
(Italy). It is one of the foremost examples on Sicily 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 f ...
.
History
The church was constructed during the 12th century as part of a Basilian monastery.Architecture
The church is about wide, long and high. Its exterior is characterised by its block-like form, but the facade is richly decorated. Inside, the church has the plan of abasilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
with three aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...
s. Two domes rise from the central nave, one above its centre and one above the choir.
The architecture of the church displays influences from a vast variety of sources, and constitutes "a mixed architectural heritage, attributable to Sicily's heterogeneous population, Muslims, Byzantines, and Normans." The block-like form of the exterior is reminiscent of North European
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...
contemporary architecture while the floor plan of the church is similar to the way churches were built in the Byzantine architectural tradition. Its principle of construction at the same time is essentially that of Western European Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...
. In its details and decorations, too, the church exhibits a wealth of influences (e.g. in the use of muqarnas
Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...
vaulting). For these reasons, the church has been called "one of the most sophisticated and coherent works of architecture to emerge from the Norman rule of the island".
Gallery
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''. ...
File:SS. Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò (Casalvecchio Siculo) 3.jpg, View of the plaque above the entrance
File:Chiesa SS Pietro e Paolo Interno 1.jpg, Interior
See also
* Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture *History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries followed that of the ...
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro Norman architecture in Italy Churches with Norman architecture Churches in the metropolitan city of Messina