Santa Maria in Mili San Pietro, Norman church near Mili River, Messina, Italy.
Santa Maria in Mili San Pietro is a church with three hemispherical domes in Islamic style and a central apse with Romanesque architectural elements. The building sits near the Mili River and combines these features into a single religious structure.
Count Roger de Hauteville built the church around 1090, possibly on the foundation of an earlier Byzantine monastery. This founding period shaped the architectural design for centuries to come.
The building shows how Norman, Islamic, and Byzantine traditions mixed together in medieval Sicilian religious structures. You can see this blend directly in the domes and the central apse, which reflect different crafting methods from the region.
You can reach the church by way of Strada Provinciale 38 and the building has kept its original structural elements. After restoration work, visitors can see the building in its current condition.
The interior walls show bare stone after restoration work removed stucco, plaster, and altars. This reveals how the Norman builders originally constructed the walls and lets visitors see the old building methods firsthand.
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