Triconchi di ascendenza orientale, dinamiche territoriali e lunga durata. Il monasterium di S. Lorenzo Vecchio presso Pachino, in F. Buscemi - N. Bonacasa - V. La Rosa (a cura di), Architetture del Mediterraneo. Scritti in onore di Francesco Tomasello, Thiasos, Monografie 6, 2016, pp. 65-93

The article focuses on the long lasting architectural complex of S. Lorenzo near Pachino. Trough the analysis of walls stratigraphy and, particularly, of the building techniques, several phases of the rich architectural palimpsest are identified: starting from a Greek temple near which the Late Antique statio of Apolline arose, to an Ancient Medieval nucleus surviving in the Norman period, until the transformation in a modern farmhouse of the XVth century rural fortified casale which arose on the site. Special attention is given to the triconch building within the complex, certainly used for worship. A date to the VIIth-VIIIth century is here proposed. The analysis of the architectural data under a cultural perspective underlines an Eastern inspiration, coherent with other similar features of the diocese of Syracuse. On the basis of the complexity and the characteristics of the plan, of the topographical position near an important road and of comparison in Southern Italy, for the complex of S. Lorenzo an interpretation as a monastery is proposed, in the frame of territorial dynamics involving the near settlement of Cittadella and the trades along the coast at the South of Eloro.