San Giorgio Abbey in Gratteri
The ruins of the Norman Abbey of San Giorgio in Gratteri are one of the oldest historical monuments of the Madonie village.
The Abbey of San Giorgio di Gratteri can be considered a great expression of European Romanesque culture like the Abbey of Santo Spirito in Catanissetta, of the Abbey of Sant'Andrea di Piazza Armerina, of the Cathedral of Cefalù and Cathedral of Monreale .
The abbey of San Giorgio is immersed in the bosco di Gratteri, is located about half an hour's walk from the town and to reach it you cross an uncontaminated natural landscape.
The place where the abbey stands, now solitary and isolated, was once it represented a strategic point of intersection between two Roman roads frequented by wayfarers and pilgrims.
The Abbey of San Giorgio represents a milestone of the Norman Way in Sicily: its construction dates back to the XII by the Normans, the building was then entrusted to a French order, the Premonstratensian monks, and was then inherited, in 1300, by the Knights of Malta.
Only a few vestiges now remain of the original building which are the subject of study, archaeologic excavations and restore. Some decorative elements are still visible and the perimeter walls of the church, with a basilica plan and three naves, with three apses on the eastern side of the back, of which only the central one protruded outside, with a decoration with pilasters similar to that of the cathedral of Cefalù.
References to Premonstratensian architecture are still identifiable today in the oculi windows and in the decorations of the Romanesque portal with geometric motifs typical of Calvados and Cotentin, such as: the arches with staggered cylinders and the capitals carved with diamond-tipped squares.
The apsidal parts are reinforced with the usual Romanesque pilasters, very common in the architecture of the County , but also in Normandy.
The monastic environments must have been located to the north of the church as evidenced by the evidence on the ground.
