Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania, Italy

Located in the historical center of Catania, Italy, in the Civita district, the Bonajuto Chapel is one of the oldest and best-conserved buildings of the city, which has survived the numerous earthquakes that struck eastern Sicily during the medieval and the modern ages, such as those particularly devastating in 1169 and 1693. However, both the date of this small monument, as well as its original use, still remain uncertain, as literary and documentary evidence are scarce and fragmentary. Most historians, analyzing prevalently the stylistic and constructive aspects, interpreted the chapel as a place of worship and assigned its construction to a rather long period of the early Middle Ages, from the 5th or 6th centuries ad to the 8th or 9th centuries ad—the phase during which the island was under the Byzantine domination. The excavations carried out in 1930 to 1939 and the last restoration works (in 2003) have not provided explicit chronological data. Its age determination is considered essential for a bette...