Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro

The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is located in the mountains of Peloritani , in the valley of the Agro River , 3 kilometers from Casalvecchio-Siculo . The closest locations are Casalvecchio-Siculo, Sant'Alessio Siculo , Savoca , Santa Teresa di Riva . Because of the difficult transport accessibility remains a little-known monument. After restoration work is open to the public; from time to time clerics from nearby Casalvecchio-Siculo conduct masses here.

Local legends attribute the emergence of the original Greek monastery in the Agro Valley to 560 , and its destruction to the time of the Arab conquest .

The renewal of the monastery in honor of Peter and Paul dates from 1116-1117 years. The circumstances of the restoration of the monastery are described in the surviving deed of gift of Count Roger II ( 1116 ), kept in the Vatican Library (Vatican Code 8201). There is an authentic act in Greek and its translation into Latin , made by Konstantin Lascaris in 1478 . According to the dedication text, the local Greek monk Gerasim turned to “ in fluvio Agrilae ” (in the valley of Agro) to the count Roger II, who was passing from Messina to Palermo and stopped at the castle of Sant'Alessio Siculo . Like his father, Roger I , the count favored the Greek monks, gave permission for the establishment of the monastery and allocated for this certain money. Feudal power over the nearby village of Vicum Agrilae ( Casalvecchio-Siculo ) was handed over to the new monastery with the right to judge and punish the peasants (except for murder cases, which were to be transferred to the curia), to collect from them certain tribute ( tithe from the pigs and goats, as well as a pair of chickens for Christmas and Easter ). The monastery was also granted the right to collect eight barrels of tuna every year from Oliveri fishermen. In addition, all products transferred to the monastery were not taxed and excise. The superior of Santi-Pietro-e-Paolo-d'Agro received, thus, a position equal to the average Norman baron.

The monastery built under Roger II was destroyed by an earthquake of 1169 and rebuilt in 1172 . Above the entrance to the monastery church there is a Greek inscription with the names of the abbot, at the expense of which the building was made, and the architect: May the Lord remember him. 6680 year The builder is Gerard Frank . ” After this date, the monastic church was never rebuilt, thereby retaining its true appearance of the XII century .

In addition to Gerasim and Theosterikt, the names of another 26 abbots of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro are preserved. Among them were two future cardinals : Vissarion (his signatures remained in the acts of the Sicilian parliament in 1449 ; he received a hat under Nicholas V ) and Niccolo Judiche (received a hat under Benedict XIII on June 11, 1725 ). Despite its wealth and influence, the monastery was never large: the surviving archival data for 1328 and 1336 report seven and ten inhabitants, respectively.

Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro was originally a Greek monastery of the Byzantine rite . Since 1131, he, like all the Sicilian monasteries of the Byzantine rite, was administratively subordinate to the archimandrite of the Messina monastery of the Holy Savior (Santissimo-Salvatore). In 1579, the Byzantine monasteries of Sicily entered the newly created order of Basilians . In subsequent years, the Basilian monasteries of Italy, with the exception of the Grottaferrats and Mezzouzo , switched to the Roman rite , despite the official prohibitions of the popes Clement XI and Benedict XIV . The exact date of the transfer of Santi-Pietro e Paolo d'Agro to the Roman rite remains unknown due to the lack of relevant historical data.

In 1784, Tanucci , Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Neapolitan , closed most of the Basilian monasteries in the mainland kingdom. Sicilian Basilian monasteries, including Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro, were preserved. But in 1794, the monastery inhabitants turned to King Ferdinand III with a request to allow them, because of the unhealthy climate of the area and the epidemics, to move to Messina . The request was granted, and in 1794 the monks moved to Messina. The monastery of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro was abandoned.

In subsequent years, the church and the buildings of the former monastery were in private ownership. For a long time, a barn was built in the church. Only in the 1920s did the researchers pay attention to the desolate monument of the Arab-Norman style. The church was bought by the state from the previous owners. In the 1960s, the church was restored, after which it was reopened for worship.

Appearance

The church of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro is a characteristic monument of the Arab-Norman style , which absorbed the features of the Romanesque , Norman , Byzantine and Arabic architectures. Most of the other, more famous monuments of the Arab-Norman style (cathedrals in Palermo , Montreal , Cefalu , Palermo churches and palaces) were repeatedly rebuilt and rebuilt in subsequent centuries, because of which features of various eras and styles intertwined in their appearance. Due to the fact that the church of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agro has never been rebuilt since 1172 , it is a very rare authentic example of Sicilian architecture of the XII century .

The church is located on top of one of the hills in the Agronom valley. Such placement and some characteristic features (stone teeth on the roof, narrow window-loopholes) indicate that the builders assumed that the temple was simultaneously built as a fortification. Similar to the typical Norman features of the temple-fortress can be seen in the cathedrals of Montreal and Cefalu.

The temple is a combination of a three-nave Romanesque basilica and a Greek church with three apses typical of Norman Sicily (in different combinations, the cathedrals of Montreal and Cefalu, the Palatine Chapel have such a design). In accordance with the Byzantine tradition, the axis of the temple is oriented strictly along the west-east axis.

Externally, the church is a parallelepiped , over the central part of which a smaller parallelepiped is built on (in terms of the main nave ), which in turn is decorated with hemispherical Arabic domes . A similar structure in Sicily has the Palermo Church of San Cataldo , and outside the island similar churches and mosques can be seen in Puglia , island Greece , the Maghreb , Egypt and Cyprus . Researchers see the Arab influence in this design. To date, two domes have been preserved, the places of the other two are clearly visible. The domes are located along the main axis of the building.

The building was built of local bricks of three different colors - red, white and black. Their whimsical combination of masonry are a distinctive feature of the temple. Around the perimeter of the building is decorated with intertwining false arches of brick. Such arches are a characteristic feature of the Arab-Norman style, their best examples can be seen in the apses of the cathedrals of Palermo and Montreal. Two original portals have been preserved: the western (main entrance) and the southern, inscribed in false arches of white and black brick. The main entrance is inlaid in the shape of a Greek cross and a Greek inscription with the names of the builders of the temple and the year of construction (1172) is placed : May the Lord remember him. 6680 year Builder - Gerard Frank "

Interior

Santi-Pietro-e-Paolo-d'Agro in the plan is a combination of a three-nave Romanesque basilica and a Greek church with three apses . The main nave is much higher than the side and separated from each of them by one brick pylon and two marble columns. All four columns are prefabricated, differ from each other, and their dimensions do not correspond to the height of the temple, in connection with which they are supplemented with a stone insert over the capitals . A pair of pylons and two pairs of columns divide the main nave into four parts, a dome was built over each of them. So far, two domes have been preserved.

The only element of the wall decor is a complex combination of red, white and black bricks . No trace of possible mosaics or frescoes was found by the researchers.

In accordance with the Byzantine tradition, the temple has three apses: the altar , diamonium and altar . The altar wall or iconostasis is not preserved. In connection with the resumption of worship in accordance with the Roman rite , a polychrome baroque altar was installed in the central apse. In the diaconal, one of the former owners of the church, Luciano Crizafulli, was equipped with a family crypt .

• R. Pirro, Sicilia Sacra , Palermo 1733
• EH Freshfield, Cellae trichorae and other christian antiquities , Londra 1918
• Stefano Bottari, Nota sul Tempio normanno dei SS Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò , 1925
• E. Calandra, Breve storia dell'architettura in Sicilia , Laterza, Bari 1938, ripubblicato da Testo & Immagine, Torino 1996
• F. Basile, Chiese siciliane del periodo normanno, I monumenti italiani, fasc. XV , Roma 1938
• Stefano Bottari, Chiese basiliane della Sicilia e della Calabria , Messina 1939
• Mario D'Amico, Palachorion , Giannotta editore Catania- Verona 1979
• Antonella Mamì, Le chiese basiliane della Sicilia orientale , in “Costruire in laterizio” n. 123, maggio-giugno 2008 leggere l'articolo