Il Duomo di Messina

The Duomo was built in 1160 in the reign of King Ruggero, but it was altered in 1300 and 1500 and after the disastrous damages of the earthquakes in 1894 and 1908.

The Norman building built on a basilican plan is tripartite with a double row of 13 columns terminating in three semi-circular apses. It is also interesting to note the two protruding constructions built beside the Cathedral around 1400 and the doors of the two sides started in 1300 and completed in the sixteenth century. In the crypt, which takes all the underground of the apses and the transept, a Confraternity of merchants created the church of Santa Maria in 1683.