Sul perduto chiostro della cattedrale normanna di Catania. Qualche documento per nuove considerazioni

The start of the construction of the abbey cathedral of Catania in Sicily is part of the political project for southern Italy of the great Count Roger of Altavilla, implemented in the last quarter of the 11 century. The annexed abbey, unfortunately lost forever, was built on the south-east side, also adapted in some way to the city walls. If the construction of the monastery is to be considered in phase with that of the cathedral, the distribution is uncertain, although in any case the location to the south and east of the church building is undoubted. The analysis of unpublished archive documents, together with new observations and architectural measurements allows us to hypothesize the location of the cloister in the immediate vicinity of the southern perimeter wall of the cathedral, along which there was a portal that connected the monastery to the church, and a generic conformation of the cloister galleries, animated by arches.