Necropolis of Piazza Duomo

In the square opposite the New Cathedral of Santo Stefano was investigated a large sector of a “cemetery” of monumental type, now offered to public use, for part of its extension, thanks to a conservation and enhancement project wanted in synergy by the Municipal Administration and the Superintendence of Messina.

The “cemetery”, stratified on two levels along the south-eastern margin, has returned a little less than eighty burials, single and multiple, completely diversified in the typological plan of the construction:

⁃ formata” in masonry, limestone blocks and with internal walls in plaster;

⁃ Mixed masonry boxes, with “cap” or flat cover;

⁃ small semi-hypogeic rooms in masonry, rectangular plan, entrance on the short side and cover “cappuccina” of flat tiles, with aerial monument “to terrace”;

⁃ Family-type monumental burial; Commercial containers for reuse.

The constant orientation (north-west/south-east), the distribution in several parallel rows, the alignment along a free space, the presence of some “service” environments (Antiquarium, Room 10 – showcase 24), the certainty of the existence of high burials in contiguous and investigated areas in the 70s (Palazzi Marullo and Messina) are all fundamental arguments to consider the sector explored coinciding with the maximum development of the “cemetery” itself. The information provided by the overall analysis of the archaeological context and the few objects that constitute the “funerary kit” (Antiquarium, Room 10 – showcase 25) allow to assume a large diachronic arc of frequentation, from at least the V c. d.C. to the early Byzantine age (7th century A.D.). It is interesting to note that, from a topographical point of view, the presence of a burial area near the Isthmus in the late Antiquity period is very significant, as it confirms the hypothesis of a return to the privileged area for urban settlement.

Address

Necropolis of Piazza Duomo
P.za Duomo, Milazzo (ME)