The small temple dating from the period of the first centuries of the Christian era, V-VI centuries AD, today exhibit the results of various reconstructions and restorations that have definitely modified its original aspect.

Its layout is unique in Puglia. The internal space is subdivided into two areas; the first designated for the faithful and the second for the clergy, according to the usual orientation from west to east. The part designated for the worshippers has three aisles: the central nave and two lateral aisles. The presbytery area designated for the clergy is in the triconco form and is composed of three semi-circular apses on three sides of the central square vano (open space). This type of layout is from the Roman-Hellenistic construction tradition. The triconco was used in the building of structures intended for different final objectives. It is possible that in this case, it was part of a Roman country house, a rustic villa situated along a tract of the via Appia. The small church of San Lorenzo, built from the ruins of a previous building, could have taken advantage of the layout which was well suited to liturgical Christian requirements.

After an initial construction phase dating back to the VI century, another phase followed, several centuries later, to which we can attribute the present day appearance. The building had to be in a good state of preservation at the end of the 1500s and this we can deduce from the historian Mannarino. Later, the situation changes because Diego Ferdinando, who wrote in 1650, describes it as a run-down little church; a testimony that concurs with the pastoral visit conducted by the archbishop Dioniso O’Driscol. In this case, the building was found to have numerous holes in the walls, due to a popular belief that behind the images there was treasure.

In successive years the building was repaired, so much so that in the report of the pastoral isit of 1714 it was found to be suitable for celebrating mass.

It is possible that during the period between 1654 and 1714 repairs were carried out to the vaults, the facade and the lateral aisles. We can also find evidence of these repairs in the materials used. Inside, in the apsal part of the church, there still remain pieces of a fresco saved from time and from man. The remaining frescoes, that originally covered the apsal part of the church, date from different periods and are therefore testimony to the different decorative phases.

The oldest pictorial depiction dating from the XI century shows two busts characterised by the crown and the golden and beaded collar that refer to royal apparel. In this fragment two figures are represented, depicted in a frontal position in an imposing manner. The iconography and the chromatic tonality represent the Byzantine artistic tradition, as does the clothing of the characters. It was possible to identify the character depicted on the right with a sainted martyr: Santa Marina d’Antiochia (Saint Marina of Antioch). Next to the head of the saint on the dark blue colour one can distinguish capital Greek letters painted in white that facilitated the aforementioned attribution. This Mesagnese depiction is the only one of the saint dating from the Middle Ages found in all of southern Byzantine Italy. The other figure alongside is probably also another saint given she is dressed in the same way; possibly Saint Caterina or Cristina.

The rest of the barely legible panels refer to pictorial cycles occurring between the XII and the XIV-XV centuries. Of particular interest is the Greek inscription that probably dates from the XIII century. The state of preservation renders its interpretation very difficult; on the first line one can decipher from the surviving letters “servo tuo” (“your servant”) and on the second line “figli tuoi” (“your children”). The complete phrase could therefore be “Ricordati o Signore del tuo servo” (“Remember O Lord your servant”) followed by the name of the person who commissioned the picture. In the following phrase it is only possible to read “dei tuoi figli” (“of your children”).

Bibliography and website citations:
Manuela Andreano, Tempietto di San Lorenzo a Mesagne.
Angelo Sconosciuto, Domenico Urgesi, Mario Vinci, 2001 L’apprezzo del Feudo di Mesagne eseguito da Pietro Vinaccia nel 1731 con l’aggiunta di documenti inediti. Schena Editore
Antonio Profilo 1894 Vie piazze vichi e corti di Mesagne – Ragione della nuova loro denominazione Ostuni Tipografia Tamborrino
Giuseppe Giordano, Damiano Angelo Laucci, Domenico Urgesi, 2018 Cataldo Antonio Mannarino – Storia di Mesagne. Sulla rotta del sole Giordano Editore
Il tempietto di S. Lorenzo Martire – Mesagne (Br). Brundarte, available on:
brundarte.it/2013/11/21/il-tempietto-di-s-lorenzo-martire-mesagne-br