La chiesa di San Francesco a Messina. Ipotesi sull’adozione di un insolito impianto architettonico nella Sicilia del Duecento

Abstract

The Minorite church of St. Francis in Messina, begun in the second half of the 13th century, was destroyed by the December
1908 earthquake. It featured unusual typological and architectural “foreign” characteristics absent in other island churches. `e
findings of the study conducted so far identify references to a church layout typical of contemporary churches in the Midi
Toulousain, transmitted through the spread of the Franciscan Order and facilitated by the prevailing political and cultural
circumstances in the Kingdom of Sicily at the end of the Hohenstaufen era. `e syncretic fusion of mendicant, Arab-Norman,
and Franco-Southern Gothic architectural elements lends the Messina church its unique character.

Keywords : S. Francesco in Messina, Manfredi Hohenstaufen, 13th century, chapels between the buttresses, Franciscan.