Church of the Ottimati

The Church of the Ottimati in Reggio Calabria (or of Santa Maria Annunziata) is an ancient Byzantine-Norman church located near Piazza Castello. Built around the 10th century, it took its name from the ancient Crypt of the Ottimati, which was built as a support structure for the 12th-century Norman-era church dedicated to Saint Gregory the Great. The Ottimati were a congregation of noblemen founded by the Normans. The church houses the marble coats of arms of the noble families of Reggio and an altarpiece by the Florentine Agostino Ciampelio (1597), of great artistic value. After the 1908 earthquake, the Church of the Ottimati was rebuilt to a design by architect Pompilio Seno, who adopted the pre-existing Byzantine and Arab-Norman three-nave layout: the vaults are cross-vaulted, supported in the centre by columns. Some pieces of the splendid mosaic floor and the missing columns were integrated with the insertion of similar pieces from the Norman basilica of Santa Maria di Terreti, which was completely destroyed.