Casalvecchio - Santi Pietro e Paolo

Level with the town, on the left north bank of the Agró, in the middle of lonely countryside, stands the Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo. It formed part of a Greek Orthodox monastery and was probably built in 1116 under Roger II and restored in 1172 under William II. It is a closed block structure with polychrome exterior walls (red brick, golden-brown limestone and black lava). There are battlements along the top of the rectangular building.

Interior

Despite its extended ground plan the undecorated interior is not a basilica in the sense that the word is used in the "Latin" world. Instead it follows the Byzantine East Christian tradition of a narthex between two staircase towers (only half preserved), a central area with the ground plan of a Greek cross and a chancel in three parts. There is a large dome over the central area, a smaller one over the chancel. As a whole the church is considered the most important of several Greek churches along the east coast in the province of Messina (others at Itàla and Mili).