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Messina in Sicilia - The "Badiazza"

The ruins of the antique church and convent of Santa Maria della Valle, commonly said "Badiazza", forms one the most antique and interesting monuments of the Medieval Messina. It is placed on the bottom of the San Rizzo, stream and is reached by the trunk-road of the Peloritani mountains passing a difficult road trought the village Scala, and going upstream the pebbly river- bed. It belonged to a Benedictine monastery founded most likely in the XIIth century. Some historians believe that it was built in the XIIth century or at the benigging of the following century, near or over previous Roman constructions of which traces were found. After the devastation of the fire in 1282, it was most likely restored in the XIVth century a small furnace was built nearby, which used the calcareous stone blocks of the building damaged it even more.

It has a basilical plant with three naves with a wide antuary and a hight transept with three apses; higher than the rest of the church and in the middle of it a spherical cusp, now fallen, was raised held by four huge pillars. This planemetry recalls- for similarity-that of other Messenese's Churches, partycularly the one of SS. Annunziata of the Catalani with wom it would hae the cusps in common. But this one was elevated on cilindrical pendentives, while the one of the Santa Maria della Valle is elevated on pillars with degrated small arches of which clear traces have remained. On the four angles of the santuary, at the height of the cusp impost , there were square rooms, which were most likely used as women's gallery. Quadrilobate pillars hold the ribbed vaults of the nave; the capitals are of various composition. On the outside, the monument presents itself as a single bloked mass, geometrically composed; the Gotic windows in regular order, and the merlon completition give the churh a reinforced civil construction appearence.

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