Jacopo Del Duca - Camillo Camilliani

"Tribune"

(posterior facade)

SAINT GIOVANNI OF MALTA

Tradition wants that in this place a sacello rose made to construct in V the century from S. Placid, patrizio roman follower of Saint Benedict. The Saint reached Messina in order to complete just the apostolate, was slaughtered from the saraceni with the siblings Eutichio, Vittorino and Flavia.

The church was pulled down and then, after several vicissitudes, it came reconstructed and it was granted from Ruggero II to the religious order of the Knights of Saint Giovanni in Gerusalemme that, the outskirtses, built up their priorato one and a hospital.

To the end of the ' 500, as a result of smottamenti of the land, were esumate some tombe and between these that one with the Placido rests Saint (1588) and, subsequently, in the 1608 the boneses of the martirizzati relatives of the Saint came to the light also with he.

In order to honor Saint Placido messinesi authorities (1588) decided to build up new tempio to plant a invert regarding the previous one and the artistic more meaningful part that we see today is the so-called "Tribune" that is the posterior facade. Jacopo Of the Duca the scultore architect who executed the design in competition with Camillo Camilliani.

This type of architecture, interpreted with the strong contrast of the dark luminosity and with alternating themselves of the gigantic ones lesene and the majestic one finestrato, the cornice to broken lines and on which the fastigio is raised, us filler to an obvious derivation of the last way of Michelangelo, and that turns out absolutely normal inasmuch as Jacopo Of the Duca of was the disciple.

The monument endured most serious damages during earthquakes of 1783 and of 1908 and from which it saved only the Tribune and the presbiteriale part. In the place the Palace of the Prefettura rises now that conserve in the posterior part the cinquecentesche shapes of the Palace of the priorato one of the Order of Saint Giovanni.

In the inside of Saint Giovanni di Malta there is the burial monument of Francisco Maurolico and in it knows them a Museum with exposure of art objects.