Architettura rupestre e paesaggi del sacro nella Sicilia medievale: il territorio ennese.

In recent years, the research has focused on the study of rock landscapes. These are no longer considered an alternative or inferior model of settlement to urban areas, but rather a specific environmental issue within the complex settlement landscape of Southern Italy and Sicily between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The study of rock churches in central Sicily, regard to their origins, material structures, forms of worship, and relationship with the road network and settlements, could provide valuable insights into the complex historical and cultural dynamics that characterise an extremely different territory. The two rock churches with still-visible frescoes, presented here and dedicated to St. Agatha and St. Helena, located in two neighbouring municipalities in the province of Enna, together with the Grotta dei Santi of Enna, are among the most significant examples in central Sicily, particularly in the Enna area. They are attributable to the Greek-speaking and Byzantine linguistic and cultural substrate, which is better known in Eastern Sicily. From the Norman era onwards, this substrate was reworked throughout the Island, creating a new code of communication common to the areas of Calabria and Puglia. The documentation resulting from the 3D survey of the church, in addition to the typological and functional analysis, has provided material documentation of the site. This documentation is useful for subsequent digital restoration projects of the tiny fragments of frescoes and further actions to protect and enhance a site that is crucial for understanding the history and landscape of this area of inland Sicily.