The hidden Bizantine chapel beneath Catania's Civita

The Chapel Bonajuto, located at Via Bonajuto 7 in the heart of Civita, is a historical site in the Civita neighborhood of Catania. Nestled under a Baroque palace, it has managed to escape the devastating tremors that struck the city, including the Val di Noto earthquake of 1693. Believed to have held a religious function, its origins date back to the Bizantine period (among the 6th and 9th centuries). Restored in the 1930s by Paolo Orsi and Sebastiano Agati, the chapel is approximately 2 meters below street level, and serves today as an exhibition venue. The building, richly adorned with medieval relics, is among the few significant edifices from the Bizantine era to have survived in Catania. Shaped like a Greek cross, it is characterized by a square plan, a dome, and three apsides (a triconch or trefoil church), much like the Byzantine cubes seen across Sicily.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons