The Cistercian Abbey of Murgo in Sicily: Architecture and Materials of a Thirteenth-Century Construction Site

Abstract

The presence of the Cistercians in the Regnum Siciliae assumed considerable relevance, particularly during the thirteenth century under Swabian and Angevin rule, when the role of monastic communities became closely intertwined with the shifting political dynamics of the period. Within this context, the Abbey of Murgo—located on the Catania plain near Agnone Bagni (Lentini)—occupies a notable position within the broad corpus of scholarship on the architecture of Frederick II, especially its religious manifestations.

Although unfinished, the site preserves the perimeter walls of the church to a modest height, along with portions of the main chapel and the transept. Drawing on metric survey data and a systematic examination of the lithic masonry, this study advances several hypotheses that contribute to defining the key architectural themes underpinning the building campaign initiated in the early decades of the thirteenth century.