S. Pietro de Deca (Sicily) : continuity and change

In former times and still today the rural structures of Sicily are dominated by large estates. Their history from the senatorial villas of late antiquity to open settlements in early Byzantine times, when monastic centres of production became more and more important, and further on to Norman fiefs is difficult to trace. A lot of scattered informations and facts have to be put together from different places to create a general profile. S. Pietro (Torrenova) instead, a farmland in the province of Messina, preserves in its territory many of the elements, which shaped such estates. Therefore we can study continuity and change of the historical developments at a single place. Written sources about S. Pietro exist from the 12h century onwards, wheras for the earlier periods archaeological excavations will offer new results. Some research work has already be done by the Austrian FWF-project "Conventazzo: archeology and history" (2001-2005): an octagonal building reaches back to antiquity. When the monastery of S. Pietro di Deca replaced the estate / village, this octagon was remodeled for christian use and joined to the convent church. For the first time our proposed project examines a Basilian monastery, its property and communication with the hinterland from a primarily archaeological approach, trying to show the economic importance of the settlement. The paradigmatic studies about San Vincenzo al Vulturno in Southern Italy or Brucato (western Sicily) will be supplemented by the evidence from a mainly Greek-Byzantine area.

In former times and still today the rural structures of Sicily are dominated by large estates. Their history from the senatorial villas of late antiquity to open settlements in early Byzantine times, when monastic centres of production became more and more important, and further on to Norman fiefs is difficult to trace. A lot of scattered informations and facts have to be put together from different places to create a general profile. S. Pietro (Torrenova) instead, a farmland in the province of Messina, preserves in its territory many of the elements, which shaped such estates. Therefore we can study continuity and change of the historical developments at a single place. Written sources about S. Pietro exist from the 12h century onwards, wheras for the earlier periods archaeological excavations will offer new results. Some research work has already be done by the Austrian FWF-project "Conventazzo: archeology and history" (2001-2005): an octagonal building reaches back to antiquity. When the monastery of S. Pietro di Deca replaced the estate / village, this octagon was remodeled for christian use and joined to the convent church. For the first time our proposed project examines a Basilian monastery, its property and communication with the hinterland from a primarily archaeological approach, trying to show the economic importance of the settlement. The paradigmatic studies about San Vincenzo al Vulturno in Southern Italy or Brucato (western Sicily) will be supplemented by the evidence from a mainly Greek-Byzantine area.