The Chiesa degli Ottimati, also called the Church of Santa Maria Annunziata, is an ancient Byzantine-Norman church in Reggio Calabria, located near piazza Castello and today run by the adjoining Jesuit college.
What to see
The original building, datable to the 10th century, had a quadrangular plan with three apses and three naves covered by five small domes, following a Byzantine model widespread in Calabria in buildings such as the Cattolica of Stilo; in the Norman period, probably under Roger II, a second church dedicated to Saint Gregory the Great was built above the Byzantine one, replacing the small domes with cross vaults. During a Saracen raid, on 3 September 1594, the church was damaged and burned along with the old painting of the Annunciation, which was replaced by a new altarpiece commissioned from the young Florentine painter Agostino Ciampelli.
The church still preserves the marble coats of arms of the old noble families of Reggio belonging to the Ottimati congregation, founded by the Normans, from which the church takes its name; abandoned in 1767 after the suppression of the Jesuit order, it was badly hit by the earthquakes of 1783 and 1908, which made it necessary to dismantle and relocate it as part of the city's reconstruction. The present building, in Arab-Norman style with three naves and cross vaults, was rebuilt to a design by the architect Pompilio Seno and completed in 1933, also reusing mosaic floor tiles and columns from the destroyed Norman basilica of Santa Maria di Terreti.
Visiting
The church is open for worship according to service times, worth checking before visiting.
Our editors' tip
Look for the marble coats of arms set into the walls: they are the most direct trace of the noble families of Reggio who gave the church its name, a building that survived fires, earthquakes and even the relocation of the entire structure.
