ALCUNE CONSIDERAZIONI SULL’ARCHITETTURA CIVILE A SIRACUSA E NEGLI IBLEI FRA XV E XVI SECOLO

Abstract

The few buildings that survived the 1693 earthquake, concentrated mainly in the city of Syracuse, offer a fragmentary picture of late Gothic civil architecture in south-eastern Sicily. The analysis of the detail elements such as windows and doorawys in the facades, stairways and loggias inside the courtyards, marked by the coexistence of late Gothic and Renaissance architectural languages, highlights the adoption of decorative motifs widespread throughout Sicily and the Mediterranean context. However, many original solutions emerge, such as the square mullioned window, largely common in the city of Syracuse but also present in Scicli, probably very common in the urban landscape of the hyblaean cities before 1693, an area characterized by the patronage of iberian families and the circulation of french and spanish master masons, artists and architects.