The Imperfect Geometries of the Basilica S. Peter and Paul in Casalvecchio, Messina

The theme of this article is twofold: an instrumental survey, which increases the documentation of the Basilica Saints Peter and Paul in Casalvecchio, is accompanied by a reflection on the underlying geometries. The latter allowed some analysis on the distance between its theoretical form and realization, but also on the way of designing, tracing and constructing the church itself. The study, therefore, outlines a protocol for the morphological analysis of the Arab-Norman architecture built in north-eastern Sicily, and identifies the Basilica Saints Peter and Paul as a case study. The results of this research increase the available documentation of the building and support future enhancement and conservation actions. The protocol provides for: brief historical contextualization; instrumental survey; geometric and morphological analysis aimed at identifying: geometric patterns, units of measurement and proportional modules.