Mediterranean Syncretism. The Migrations of Byzantine Monks to Southern Italy and Oriental Influences in Religious Architecture

From the 7th to the 11th century, numerous monks of the Greek language, rite and culture migrated from Asia Minor to southern Italy (Sicily, Puglia, Calabria), which at that time was part of the Byzantine Empire. The main reasons behind these migratory flows were the Islamic expansion towards the West and the Iconoclasm. A further migratory flow occurred during the Arab domination of Sicily (IX-XI century), as the Christian monks who settled on the island were forced to emigrate towards the south of the Italian peninsula to avoid conversion. These migrations have favoured a fruitful cultural syncretism in the Mediterranean area, with evident consequences in the language, in the diffusion of culture and in the conformation of an architectural style in which Greek, Latin and Islamic elements coexist with high-quality results. In this study, we will analyse some religious architectures in which this syncretism emerges with evidence. We will examine aspects such as the geometries underlying the vaulted structures, the variations of the quincunx plan, the design of the morphological and structural elements, and the wall iconography.