The Norman Tower
The Norman
tower is the oldest part of the fortified town of Milazzo. Built during the
period of Norman domination, it is reminiscent of another ancient building in
the province of Messina, the contemporary church of Saints Peter and Paul d’Agrò.
Built in Casalvecchio Siculo in 1172, as can be seen on the still legible
inscription in Greek above the main door, this church is characterised by
intersecting arches, typical of the architecture of the time, but above all by
the herringbone brick decorations that can also be seen in Milazzo, both on the
top of the tower and in the paving of the nearby ramp, discovered during
restoration work between 2008 and 2010.
The
alternation of terracotta tiles and lava stone add both beauty and colour to
the church. Lava stone was also used to a large extent in the arches and
corners of the tower lending a certain elegance to the interior.
Casalvecchio Siculo, SS. Pietro e Paolo d’Agrò (1172)
The 17 metre
tall tower was strengthened by a scarp (probably of Swabian origin), in which the blocks of lava stone were
engraved by the stone cutters that had hewed and finished them, a kind of
signature in order that the work of every mason employed on the tower’s
building site could be recognised and evaluated.
The tower is one of very few records of Milazzo dating back to the Norman period, from which some coins, unearthed in the fortified town between 2003 and 2006, also survive. These coins are testimony to the mass Arab presence in the, then, multi-ethnical Sicily. Notable amongst these are the trifollaro of Roger I, minted in Mileto in Calabria between 1072 and 1101, and the follaro with the legend in Arabic, minted in Messina in 1138 (Islamic year 533) during the reign of Roger II. The latter, on the obverse, has a bust of Christ with the abbreviated legend in Greek “IC XC” (i.e. Jesus Christ) and on the reverse the legend in Arabic translated as: «By order of King Roger the Magnificent, powerful through Allah - 533».
Norman tower: decoration of tiles in herringbone pattern
Norman tower - symbols engraved by stone cutters on blocks of lava stone:
Norman tower: paving on the nearby ramp:
In alto: Trifollaro, Mileto mint, struck 1098-1101. Obv: knight on horseback «ROGERIVS COMES». Rev: seated Virgin and child «Maria Mater D[omi]ni
In basso: Follaro, Messina mint, 1138 AD; AH 533. Obv: facing bust of Christ «IC - XC». Rev: «al–malik al–mu'azzam Rujj?r al-mu'tazz bi–ll?h 533» in four lines. Kufische Legende in 4 Zeilen. Rs: Nimbierte Büste Christi von vorn zwischen «IC - XC»
Tabula Rogeriana
Roger II loved the civilisation and culture of
Islam. For this reason he invited one of the most important exponents of the
Arab world, the geographer and traveller al Idrīsī, to his court. From 1138 al Idrīsī was at the
service of the Norman king, who financed his book on world maps (the
famous Charta or Tabula Rogeriana of 1154), accompanied by a lengthy manuscript (known
as The Book of Roger), in which al Idrīsī also decribes Milazzo (Milâs), its castle and promontory, the
exportation of high quality linen and its tuna fisheries: «a town with the most
beautiful and most elegant people, similar to those in the greatest cities for
their culture, industry, trade and leisure».
Roger II (1095-1154), king of Sicily. Mosaic in the Martorana, Palermo
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Šarīf Abū ʿAbd Allâh al Idrīsī (1100?-1165?)
Nuzhat al-muštāq fī iḫtirāq al-āfāq (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
The Book of Roger,
1154
