Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History, , 20th-24th January 2003, ed. S. Huerta, Madrid: I. Juan de Herrera, SEdHC, ETSAM, A. E. Benvenuto, COAM, F. Dragados, 2003.

The «Cuba» near Castiglione in . A self-supporting vault made of voicanic stone

Pietro Copani Laura Buonanno

The Sicilian Medieval architecture is widely recognized as rich of different mixtures and influences, that affected features and spaces of the civilian buildings, and particularly the religious ones. The wealthier period on this subject is certainly the one beginning with the conquest of the island by Normans after the Muslim rule (second half of XI century) and carry on for more than two centuries and half, until the end of Swabian dinasty of Frederick II in 1266. The long Muslim presence in Sicily (from 827 to the Norman invasion led by Roger 1) influenced the characters of architecture in the following centuries, by mixing its features with the surviving Byzantine traditions (expecially significant in the eastern part of Figure I the island) and with the European trends brought by Santa Dornenica church. Western fa<;:ade in 1999. the new sovereigns. (Photograph courtesy of Arch. Rosario Musurneci)

THE PROBLEM OF DATlNG CUBA misdating of the building during the Byzantine period The building studied is a little church, laying ruined of the island (VI-IX centuries, and so the name in the country-side at the north base of . should derive from the Islamic period after the It is called «Santa Domenica» (or «San Domenico») building of the church).2 Many scholars (Sardo Sardo but this dedication seems to be more recent than the 1910; Freshdfield 1918; Lojacono 1936; Bottari real foudation of the church: the first time this place- 1939; Pace 1949; Giglio 1997), linked the Cuba with name is found, is on a map dated 1891, with the exact a lot of little cellae trichorae in this part of Sicily. name of «Molini San Domenico» (Saint Dominick Some of these buildings are laying also few Milis).' kilometres far from the Cuba (Lojacono 1960a, The «Santa Domenica» church is commonly called Giglio 1992a), and date back to the Byzantine period, «Cuba»: probably this denomination has helped in the but they are basically different from the building we 612 P. Copani, L. Buonanno

study is a crucial point of reference for establishing the church's datation: between the end of the XI century and the beginning of the XII. As a matter of fact, in this period a lot of monasteries were built in the eastern part of Sicily: in 1092 was founded, by permission of Roger I (Re 1996), the monastery of San Salvatore di Placa, whose ruins are still over a rock not far from the cuba (Giglio 1992b). This monastery controlled and managed a lot 01' fields in the neighbourhood, and had two metochia at the moment 01' its foundation (Re, 1996), two httle churches, or chapels, probably with a httle house for the monks who received tributes from countrymen. Another metochion related to the monastery was probably the Figure 2 Cuba. As it is a 10nely church built far from the town, The Cuba near Ma1vagna, Sicily. It is dated back to the it completely responds to the function just described. V-IX centuries. (Agnello 1952)

Aesthetical and constructive characters, stylistic influences are considering, according to a comprehensive study which includes the analysis 01' the construction With an analysis 01' architectural and constructive techniques. aspects of the Cuba, is possible to join this building to The Cuba, abandoned several centuries ago, was the particular architecture of the Norman period of used as a sheep-fold until 1959, when repairs, Sicily. conducted by the Soprintendenza ai Monumenti della Sicilia Orientale, gave the building the present appearence (Lojacono l 960b, Lojacono 1963). In the whole XX century only two times the Cuba was defined as a medieval building, far from the ones derived from the roman architecture. The first to write about a possible datation after the X century was Stefano Bottari, and this is a part of the description he made about the Cuba:

La capziosa ingcgnosita di questa costruzionc, pur agi1e ed ariosa nonostante il gioco comp1esso dei suoi clcmenti, si coglie piu da vicino quando si pensi alle sue minuscole proporzioni (il lato del quadrato non supera gli otto metri). E' stato detto e giustamente, dal suo primo illustratore, Freshfield, che essa, tra quel1c siciliane, e I'unica cui convenga la qualificazionc di bizantina . . . ma non e dubbio che la costruzione, per il suo intimo significato architettonico, e gia al di fuori della mentalita tardo-romana cioe al di fuori - e si dia al termine la

massima estensione - della tradizione c1assica. (Bottari 1956) Figure 3 Church of Saints Pietro e Pao10 in Agro, Sicily (1117). One Later on, Charles Nicklies (1994) made an accurate of the two main domes, both built over arches that connect analysis 01' architectural characters of the Cuba. His them with the wal1s. (Basile 1975) The «Cuba» near Castiglione in Sicily. A self-suppot1ing vault made of volcanic stone 613

The church concentrates numerous elements, in plan and in the spatial characters of the interior. The square plan (9 meters for each side) is defined by three bays attached to the transept and an apse, the only element protuding out of the linear outlines, scanned by buttresses on three sides, and other two around the apse. One can enter the building by a large door with rounded-head arch, or by a smaller one connected to the nort aisle, both located in the west fa<;ade, where a triple-light window flanked by two little ones; two couples of windows bring light inside from south and north wall, while a double- light window is opened in the apse wall. The exterior is lacking in decoration, except for trichromate arched lintle over the main windows and some simple ones. The interior is very impressive because of the variety of vaults, different for each space they cover: from the main entrance one can see the large, squared central bay, covered with a domical vault. This space is flanked by the narrow side-aisles, with their sets of Figure 5 three cross vaults supported by corbels. The three Interior view of the Cuba bays are separated by round-headed arches from the transept, composed by the bema covered by a cross- vault, and two side spaces (prothesis and diaconicon) barrel-vaulted, where two niches are contained within the thickness of walls. As we can infer from this description, the Cuba is a mixture between the basilical type and the centric one: because of the shortness of the aisles and because of the square shape of the central one that is prevailing over the two others, in plan and in height. . The vault of naos draws visitors' attention more than . other elements of the building, and this maybe was , the aim of the planners and the builders. The construction of the vault will be explained later; now is necessary to examine its shape and its strategical position in the equilibrium of the whole building, also because of the uncertain datation. . Actually we cannot find examples in Sicily similar to such a vertically-strained shape, but in Puglia there are a lot of so-called churches «with domes on axis» (Messina and Dell'Aquila 1998), with shapes of o Sm dome vaults analogous to the Cuba' s one. These similarities are interesting because they can be ~ / ''' temporally linked with the great migration of the monks Figure 4 from the East to Puglia, and then to Calabria and Sicily. Plan of the Cuba. (Survey by authors, directed by pral'. In 1059 the Nonnan Robert the «Guiscardo» beca me Gennaro Tampone) Duke of Puglia and Calabria, after the alliance with 614 P. Copani, L. Buonanno

CONSTRUCTlON TECHNIQUES

The stone used for all the Cuba's valuts is pumice- stone (specific weight 0,001 kg/cm') from Muont Etna, while the walls and the arches are made of basaltic stone, heavier about two times and a half than the pumice. This difference helps in engaging with less weight the supporting structures; moreover the verticaIly-strained geometry of the dome-vault distributes thrusts over the waIl section below (thickness of about 60 cm) in an effective way, making the resultant closer to the core of the section. The eccentricity of the resultant over the western wall (today the most damaged) is de j(¡etu acceptable, and the serious damages we can see in this part of the building are due to other reasons' The little stones, by which the intrados of the dome-vault is made, are similar to bricks in their shape (about 8 x 12 x 20 cm); the peculiarity of this Figure 6 structure is the bond by which these stones were laid, The Cuba. View of the dome-vault over the naos. in a special way where no centering was required, at (photograph by authors) least for the first phases of the construction. The section of the dome-vault, with a thickness of about 40 cm, is composed by an intrados with regular hewn stones for about one third of the section, and by Rome's Church, and subjected many Byzantine a second cover over the first, made of rough stones, communities, while introducing the latin religion. The monks, who arrived in these regions from the East various decades or centuries before, were then forced to move towards Calabria and Sicily, by following the Norrnans. In reality, the new sovereigns were not interested in establishing a unique religion for the latest acquired territories. On the contrary, they used to spread both the two Christian worships, from Rome and Byzantium, depending on the community's customs i . they found over their path. However, a lot of Byzantine 1:/ monks, allured by the conquest of new lands over the ~/-'\c ! ! ! :~ j~ . Islamic oppression, accepted to move while carrying ! "~'''lJ

I their experiences, also conceming architectural issues 11 :í (Scaduto 1947). ¡ ¡ ¡I ! This is a key by which we can explain part of the influences that may be found in medieval architecture of Southern , expecially of Sicily and of the Cuba Sm too, where significant experiences from Greece, I :...... J Armenia, Turkey and Puglia have been mixed with Islamic characters. Figure 7 The Cuba. Longitudinal section: the vertically-strained shape of the dome vault is evident here. (Drawing by THE DOME-VAULT: CHARACTERS AND authors) The «Cuba» near Castiglione in Sicily. A selt~supporting vault made of volcanic stone 615

Figure 9 The Cuba. Virtual reconstruction of the constructive Figure 8 process. (Drawing by authors) The Cuba. Virtual reconstruction of the squinches' s sets. (Drawing by authors)

Furthermore, the inner shell of the brickwork is basically a centering for the outer one, that was begun over which the roofing tiles were laido after the second set of squinches was laid. The construction of the vauJt began when the The other sets were embedded one upon the other, basaltic stone walls were raised until the shoulders of smaller and always turned of 45 degrees toward the the inner shell: over one side of the wall was a level keystone. It is a squared wedge stone with a hole, for the regular hewn-stones (creating an arch on the squared at the same way, maybe useful to put inside inner faces of the four sides of the naos), on the an iron crosS. contrary the external side of the wall was built The only necessary centering was probably the one entirely with a square line-drawing on the tour side of needed for sustaining the last two sets of squinches, the church. and for the keystone. The holes in the perimeter walls Over the rounded-levelleft in the wall, the builders of the central bay could receive the scaffolding laid the first projecting stones in the four corners of structure for this little centering. the central bay, making a basis for the first squared stones, arranged in arches laid one upon the other. According to this, the projection of the arches in The origin of the construction techniques plane is turned of 45 degrees respect to the wall perimeter. In some ways, the structure described above is similar When the four angular squinches were completed, to some famous buildings, very far in space and in the gap between them and the external walls was time from the Sicilian countryside of the XI-XII filled with stones and mortar. Later, between the four centuries. However, it may be useful to run shortly great squinches, other four squinches were raised, over the history of this construction technique by turned of 45 degrees respect to the first ones and so following an evolution begun with the Diocletian ensuing parallel to the walls. Builders used a fairly Mausoleum in Split (ended in 3(2). Here the arches, quick-setting mortar, that let them to build the first made of bricks, compose the spherical triangles that three or four sets of squinches without centering. create the great self-supporting vault. But the 616 P. Copani, L. Buonanno

~'> r.::~,=,-;';".<:- r.:-';..'t:.:::",":.~'t..~--;;~ ~~f~~h~lif ' Figure 1] Typical constructive process 01' a Persian vau1t. (Pope ]938-1939)

makes geometrical drawings based on the principie of ratation of squares by 45 degrees, that is a manda/a !I!i ~ - with a symbolic meaning: the place where earth meets Figure 10 the di vine has always to be emphasized. Ardashir's Palace in Firuzabad (224-242). The ruined vault The example c10ser to the dome-vault of the Cuba ] built over pendentives. (Sanpaolesi 978) is the rich graup of vaults of the more ancient part of the Friday Mosque in Esfahan. Here a great number of spaces, shaped in square or rectangular and defined technique used in this roman building «non viene da by ogive arches, are covered by vaults in which the Roma, non viene dalla Siria che usa la pietra, ciü deriva dal pracedimento persiano-mesopotamico» (Monneret de Villard 1915). Therefore, the origin of this kind of arranging vaults is to be found fram Persia, where Sassanian skilled workers rase structures as the dome of Ardashir' s Palace in Firuzabad. This imposing brickwork structure is connected to the walls by «quattro archi in pietra diagonali sugli angoli» (Sanpaolesi, 1978), four pendentives. It is one of the earliest examples we can find in the history of architecture: this ancient technique is the basis of a practice more and more commonly used in the most representative Persian buildings, as the dome in Sarvistan (V century) shows, according to the sketch reported by Arthur U. Pope (1938-1939). During the following centuries the Mushms invade Turkey and besiege Byzantium: these events influence the architectural techniques, as many examples in Greece, Turkey and the capital Byzantium can show. Figure 12 Indeed, the Persian constructive practice become Friday Mosque in Esfahan. One of the vault built in the very common. It covers httle squared spaces with X-XII centuries. The process of rotated squares is evident. domes or vaults, arranged with brick's raws, and (Galdieri 1973) The «Cuba» near Castiglione in Sicily. A self-supporting vauIt made of volcanic stone 617 same principIe of rotated-squares applies. The technique is comparable with the one described for the Cuba's dome-vault: the first squinches are laid over the corners, and the space between them is filled by other squinches smaller and smaller. The key is made by a spiral of four bricks or by special wedges, as four triangular bricks (Galdieri 1973). In Persia this technique had a wide spread, thank to the great skill of the builders, and to the possibility to cover little spaces (rooms with the side of 5 or 6 meters). It becomes a real trademark for the madieval Persia. Ouring the X and Xl century, this practice became very common also in the Byzantine Empire, when a drastic reduction of the spaces occurred in churches' construction, because of the crisis of the Empire. The magnificent domes are now replaced by smaller and domes tic spaces, often covered by barrel or dome vaults: in this period we can find a lot of meaningful examples with the same constructive Figure 14 conception of rotated-squares, applied in different Panthocrator church in Istanbul (XII century). Crypt's vault. ways depending on the various aesthetical and (Ousterhout 1999) constructive requirements. These examples form a complete collection, together with the Friday Mosque, of the ways in which you can cover a square place with a vault made of bricks. Panthocrator, but derive both from the same Sometimes the geometry is misshaped in order to constructive will (Ousterhout, 1999). avoid use of centering, and builders tried to find If these vaults are arranged in a rough way, always a new way to do it: the squashed vaults in somewhere else the same technique creates so much Saint Panteleimon in Thessaloniki are in contrast with rich and precious drawings that the builders didn't the vertically-strained ones in Istanbul, at cover the arrangement with plaster. For instance, in the crypt of Saint Oemetrius in Thessaloniki (X century) the vaults are somehow still connected with the roman practice: the bricks form, on the vaults' surfaces, unloading and following arches, that do not connect the sides of corners with squinches, but they extend them with parallel rows making fanlights intersecting on the diagonals of the vaults. On the contrary, the semi- domes of the apses at Saint Aberkios in Kursunlu and Saint lohn in Trullo in Istanbul (XII), show in tato the persian influences: the spherical triangles are ]aid one upon the other (Ousterhout 1999).

Structure and decoration: covering as celebration of construction

Figure 13 As most of the vaults' examples described above Saint Panteleimon church in Thessaloniki (XI century). A show, the function accomplished by the vaults lateral chapel's vault. (Ousterhout 1999) (covering little spaces) adapts itself to the -_.~ ---~~-

618 P. Copani, L. Buonanno

Figure 16 Figure 15 Friday Mosque in Esfahan. Over this vault, paintings Saint Aberkios church in Kursunlu (Xl century). The apse's reproduce bricks. (GaJdieri 1973) semi-dome is made of squinches conceived as spherical triangles. (Ousterhout \999)

requirements of the Byzantine churchs of the late period; but in this way they end their rale: a mere construetive roleo The ease of the Friday Mosque in Esfahan is different; here some of the vaults have plaster over their briekwork, painted by following the arrangement of the briek's raws, or sometimes by inventing new ones. Deeorations emphasizes the masonry, both following the brick's arrangement and denying it: in some examples, where the plaster is still surviving, one ean see paintings that seems to repeat exaetly the briek's raws, even ifwith a bigger size and, obviously, with less rows in the number. Paintings represent a fe asible stmeture, with dark eoloured brieks and white mortar filling. Gn the eontrary, in some eases the vaults' plaster was left white and, over it, only thin Figure 17 lines were painted (fillings between short sides of Friday Mosquc in Esfahan. In this case, over the p1aster onJy bricks are missing). It symbolises a different rows are represented. (Galdieri 1973) decorative value: covering takes a step forward, toward an abstractionism typical of the Islamic decorations, that wi II soon leave the strueture behind The praetiee of reprodueing stmetures over plaster, and will appraach muqarnas (since this period more being over many vaults in the more ancient wing of and more three-dimensional and independent from the Friday Mosque, was recently also reeognized in masonry).4 the Cuba near . The «Cuba» near Castiglione in Sicily. A self-supporting vault made of volcanic stone 619

Indeed, thank to the repairs, conducted by CONCLUSION Soprintendenza ai Beni Artistici e Storici di in 2000-2001, a painted plaster was discovered over To sum up, because of the evidences reported in this the inner surface of the dome-vault: the whole system paper, the dome-vault of the Cuba seems to be built of squinches is repeated with red and black rows one by Persian or Islamic skill workers; they chose for the upon the other, and white fillings. The distemper is vaults' construction the material easier-to-find in that spread over a thin plaster layer, the only one present place, pumice stone, but used it as bricks. For this over the stones. As a result, this decoration has to be reason a masonry very close to the eastern considered the original one of the church. experiences was possible. Finally, it is important to point out that who settled such decoration for the vault, gave up using traditional symbols of Byzantine worship: indeed paintings do not represent Panthocrator (that was probably painted on the fresco, now missing, in the ~ semi-dome of the apse), neither a cross in correspondence with the keystone, nor stars over the sky. The painter preferred to represent the masonry, the brickwork made by skilled workers, overlaying the two-dimensional arrangement over the three- dimensional one.

Figure 19 Virtual reconstruction of the main vault of the Cuba. (Drawing by authors)

Islamic influences makes possible to put a terminus post quem in 1061 for dating the building: before the Norman conquest, indeed, Muslims did not let any building of churches in Sicily. The Cuba could be built duribg the 30-50 years when a lot ofmonasteries were risen up, especially in the eastern part of the island. The Persian -or Eastem in general- characters can be explained with the migration of monks that Figure 18 occurred in the second half of the XI century from The Cuba. One of the squinches nearest to the corners, Puglia to Sicily, because of the arrival of Normans in during restoration. Under a ¡ayer of thick plaster, another Southern Italy. ¡ayer shows the black and red paintings. (Photograph by authors) 620 P. Copani, L. Buonanno

NOTES Bottari, Stefano. 1939. Chlée basiliane del/a Sicilia e del/a Calabria. 37-40. Messina: Principato. 1. The first map of the zone edited by the Istituto Bottari, Stefano. 1956. «L'architettura del medioevo in Geografieo Militare in 1891 (Foglio 262 della Carta Sicilia». In Atti del VII Congresso nazionale di Storia d' Italia, Tavoletta IV), reports the place-name «Molini dell 'architettura. 24-30 sett. 1950. 117-120. San Domenico»: it could be referred to a building, still Palermo. existing near the Cuba. The mili is sited on the banks of Caruso, Enrico and Nobili, Alessandra eds. 2001. Le Mappe the river A1cimtara. Moreover, a sketch representing the del Catasto Borbonico di Sicilia. Territori cOlnunali e Cuba, appears over another map, more ancient than the centri urhani nell'Archivio Cartografico Mortillaro di first: it is the map n. 116, edited by the Catasto Villarena (1837-1853). Exhibit catalogue. Palermo: Arti Borbonico, and it was drawn by architect Vincenzo Grafiche Siciliane. Musumeci approximately in 1850. This is probably the Freshfield, Edwin H. 1918. Cellae triclwrae and other first document where the Cuba is represented (Caruso christian Antiquities in the hyzantine Provinces of Sieily and Nobili 2001). with Calahria and North Afriea inc/uding Sardinia. Vol. 2. Probably, the appellation «Cuba» is derived by the n. 49-54. London. lslamic presence in Castiglione di Sicilia, that survived Garufi, Carlo Alberto. 1899.1 doeumenti inediti dell'epoea the Norman conguest: quhha means a domed space, in normanna in Sicilia. Palermo Arabic. However, many litt1e buildings in Sicily are Galdieri, Eugenio. 1973. hfahan, Masgid-i Cum'a. Roma: named in this way, not depending on their building' s lsMEO. age. Giglio, Salvatore. 1992a. «La Cuba presso Malvagna». In 3. The original configuration of the Cuba had certainly a Areheologia Viva. 80. Firenze: Giunti. narthex, that provided an effective reaction to the Giglio, Salvatore. 1992b. «Un monastero basiliano». In thrusts coming from the dome-vault; unfortunately this Areheologia Viva. 80. Firenze: Giunti. structure was dismantled (probably by countrymen) in Giglio, Salvatore. 1997. La Chiesa Bizantina in eontrada order to get easily building materials. Moreover a door Santa Domeniea presso Castiglione di Sieilia. Giarre. was opened inside the southern wall of the church: in Lojacono, Pietro. 1936. «L'architettura bizantina in Calabria this point the wal1 was damaged from the arch of the e Sicilia». In Atti del V Congresso Intemazionale di Studi new door to the dome-vault. The restoration Bizantini. 117-120. Roma intervention in 1959 repaired this damage, but it is stil1 Lojacono, Pietro. 1960a. «La chiesctta di Dagala del Re active and another intervention had to be made in presso S. Venerina». In Teenica e Rieostruzione. 1-2. 2001-2002 by the Soprintendenza ai Beni Artistici e Catania. Storici di Catania. Lojacono, Pietro. 1960b. «La Cuba presso Castiglione di 4. Charles Nicklies (1994) underlines the similarity SiciJia». In Teeniea e Rieostruzione. 3-4. Catania. between the Cuba' s sguinches and the mugarnas Lojacono, Pietro. 1963. «La Cuba presso Castiglione di because he sees the former as forerunners of the latter. Sicilia». In Areheologia - Rassegna di Studi e Rieerehe. 9. The church of Saints Pietro and Paolo in Agro (founded Mango, Cyril. 1979. Architettura bizantina. Milano: Electa. in 1117, Figure 3), twenty kilometres far from the Cuba, Messina, Aldo and Dell'Aguila, Franco. 1998. Le ehiese is reported as a middle-step between sguinches and rupestri di puglia e Basilieata. Bari: Mario Adda Editore. mugarnas: only one. certainly, amongst the Monneret de VilIard, Ugo. 1915. «L'architettura romana heterogeneous and rich complex of similar examples negli ultimi secoli dell'impero». In Atti del Collegio degli datable around the Norman period of Sicily. lngegneri e Architetti di Mi/ano. 9-10. Milano. Nicklies, Charles. 1994. «The church of the Cuba near Castiglione di Sicilia, and its cultural context». In Mugarnas. XI. Leiden. REFERENCE LIST Orsi, Pa010. 1942. Sieilia Bizantina. Tivoli. Ousterhout, Robert G. 1999. Masters bui/ders olByzantium. Agnello, Giuseppe. 1952. L' architettura Bizantina in Princeton: Princeton University Press. Sicilia. Firenze: La Nuova Italia. Pace, Biagio. 1949. Arte e eivilla della Sieilia Anliea. Citta Basile, Francesco. 1975. L'architettura della Sicilia di Castel1o. nonnanna. Catania-Caltanissetta-Roma: Vito Cavallotto Pope, Arthur U. 1938-1939. Survey ol Persian Art. London- Editore. New York. Bel1afiore, Giuseppe. 1990. Architettura in Sicilia nell' eta Re, Mario. 1996. «Del1'abate Clemente divenuto San isla mica e normanna (827-1194). Milano: Arnaldo Cremete». In Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neoelleniei. 33. Lombardi Editore. 181-192. Roma. The «Cuba» near Castiglione in Sicily. A self-supporting vault made of volcanic stone 621

Sanpaolesi, Piera. 1965. Santa Sofia a Costantinopo/i. Sardo Sardo, Vincenzo. 1910. Castig/ione, cilla demania/e e Firenze: Sadea-Sansoni. citta feuda/e: sue vicende storiche allraverso i seco/i. Sanpaolesi, Piera. 1971. «Strutture a cupola autoportanti». Palermo. In Pal/adio. 1-4. Roma. Van Falkenhausen, Vera. 1977. «1 monasteri greci dell'ltalia Sanpaolesi, Piera. 1978. Seritti vari di storia, restauro e meridionale e della Sicilia dopo l'avvento dei normanni: critica dell'architellura. Firenze: Facolta di Architettura. continuita e mutamenti». In J/ passaggio da/ dominio Scaduto, Mario. 1947. J/ monachesimo basiliano nella bizantino al/o stato normanno nell'/talia meridiona/e. Sicilia medieva/e. Rinascita e decadenza. Seco XII-X/V. Alli de/ II convegno internaziona/e di studi, Taranto - Roma MeJlto/a 31011. - 4 nov. /973. Taranto.