The Ancient Cathedral
Building of the ancient cathedral was begun in 1607, but to this day the
creator of the project is unknown. What is certain, however, is that the works
were directed, from 1615, by Giuseppe Gasdia, an architect from Palermo. Surviving
documents in the municipal archives, a large part of which was destroyed in the
Second World War, testify to the provision of blocks of stone for the
embellishment of arches, pillars, cornices and windows, all sculpted by Salvatore
Lo Servo and subsequently by other skilled workers in the first three decades
of the 17th century. A supply
of blocks of stone from Syracuse for the external cornice dates back to 1622,
with elegant Corinthian capitals, some of which depict an eagle, with a dog in
its talons, between two griffons, a
faithful reproduction of a capital from plate XXX in a well-known architectural
treatise by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola
(1562).
The zodiac, the sundial and the marble structure depicting the Virgin
Mary embellish the main façade of the cathedral, above which are the
remains of the bell tower.
The first religious functions were celebrated in 1616, when building had
not yet been completed. In 1860, on the occasion of one of the battles for the
Unification of Italy, which was still divided in small states, the cathedral
was used as barracks, deconsecrated and subject to a long series of acts of
vandalism, first on the part of the soldiers and subsequently by the
inhabitants of Milazzo themselves. Marble statues and floors were ripped out
and precious wooden furnishings destroyed. Only paintings and silverware were
saved and transferred by priests to other churches in July 1860. One exception
was the painting of the Nativity, which
was still in place in 1914. This was saved thanks to its position at the back
of the church and to the fact that it was
several metres from the floor. Further damage was caused in the 20th
century. During the First World War the cathedral was once more used as
barracks and as a prison for Austro-Hungarian officers. On this occasion, the
Oratory of the SS. Sacramento, below the church, was destroyed.
The Cathedral, despite surviving the Second World War, was left in a
state of abandonment until it was finally restored in 1999.
Page from the minutes of a meeting of the town council of Milazzo, 25 July 1607, approving the construction of a new cathedral, financed by money from compensation for the old cathedral located within the bastion of St. Mary and expropriated by the state for military purposes. (Historical Archives of the Town of Milazzo)
Cathedral interior in around 1930. At the back of the church the wooden «macchinetta» that
framed the Nativity (archives of the
Superintendence of Messina)
Vandalised wardrobes
in the sacristy, circa 1930
(archives of the Superintendence of Messina):
