Chiesa degli Ottimati, Byzantine church in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

The Chiesa degli Ottimati stands on Via Castello near Piazza Castello, built of light tan stone with horizontal bands of reddish-brown brick. Its facade has a tall arched doorway, a round window above, and a small square bell tower with a pitched roof; a red dome on a drum pierced by arched windows rises behind. The side wall carries tall narrow arched windows and a second round window.

The church is documented from the 10th century, when it was built in Byzantine style with three apses and five small domes, like the Cattolica di Stilo. Under Roger II the Normans added a second church above it, dedicated to Saint Gregory the Great, replacing the domes with cross vaults. Saracen raiders damaged and burned it on 3 September 1594; after the 1908 earthquake it was dismantled and rebuilt, completed in 1933 to Pompilio Seno's 1927 design.

The name comes from the Ottimati, a congregation of nobles founded by the Normans, not merchants. Their marble coats of arms remain in the church, including the Filocamo, Griso, Altavilla and Napoli families. After Saracen raiders burned the old Annunciation painting in 1594, the congregation commissioned a replacement from the Florentine Agostino Ciampelli, which arrived from Rome in December 1597.

The church sits in central Reggio Calabria and is easy to find on foot through the city streets. Inside, the columns and domed sections create a sense of separate zones, so take time to look around each area.

The church holds marble coats of arms of the noble Reggio families who formed the Ottimati congregation, among them Filocamo, Griso, Altavilla and Napoli; others such as Nesci, Barilla, Spanò and Genoese-Zerbi may have been lost. After Saracen raiders burned the old Annunciation painting on 3 September 1594, the congregation commissioned a replacement from the young Florentine painter Agostino Ciampelli, which arrived from Rome in December 1597.