This is the tale of a sacred space, of opportunism, pragmaticism, religious co-opting and, well, recycling.
Here in Siracusa (Syracuse) the old city is on an island, and the history goes back a long way. Probably before but I will start with Athena whose temple spot this was in 480 BC. Interestingly there were 2 other temples seemingly elbow to elbow in this space as well. There are several of the Doric columns visible on the outer wall. And inner wall. The Romans dedicated it to Minerva. Then the Arabs came in 827 and it was briefly a mosque.
In 500’s AD —Byzantine times it was converted to a church and they filled in the walls between the columns. Now it was dedicated to Mary. Then then Normans came and were trying to get their infrastructure up and it was made into a fortress/church, with crenellations added to the top. Somewhere in there the entrance was switched from the eastern to the western side, and the Normans put up a facade. But, as things go, there was a huge earthquake in Siracusa in 1693, which destroyed much of the city. More on that later. The Spaniards added the roof and marble floors.
This destroyed the Norman facade and other parts of the cathedral. Which meant repairs. What was popular at the time? Baroque styles! Even though by then much of the rest of Europe was moving toward the Renaissance, it was a bit delayed here on the island. So the facade and the altar are Baroque. There is a later chapel which is neoclassical .
So while it feels kind of icky to see religions co opt spaces and wipe out the space that was there, building materials are hard to transport and they are readily available from the space that is there and in a way, it is recycling. This church, while Catholic, gives a nod to all of its previous incarnations. Oh, and Santa Lucia has her own chapel.
As Lucy is the patron saint of light and blindness we put in a donation for mom and dad.
Comments
Post a Comment