the norman-arabic palermo

gifts from the north

The Norman-Arabic Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù

The Norman-Arabic sights, are a series of nine architectures that have been built during the Norman dominion of Palermo and of Sicily, that have been awarded World Heritage sights by the UN due to their historical importance and uniqueness. In fact they are the symbol of cultural integration between Islam, Latin and Byzantine culture, expression of a society were different religions and cultures were not only tolerated but also highly appreciated.

The nine sights are: Palazzo Reale o dei Normanni; Cappella Palatina del Palazzo Reale; La Zisa; Cattedrale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta; Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti; Chiesa della Martorana; Chiesa di San Cataldo; Ponte dell'Ammiraglio; Cattedrale o Duomo del Santissimo Salvatore in Cefalù; Cattedrale o Duomo di Santa Maria Nuova in Monreale.

Palazzo Reale o dei Normanni, is one of the oldest royal palaces of Europe and hosts the oldest parliament in Europe, the Sicilian Parliament. This palace used to be the center of the old Phoenician town and has been a military sight until the Arabic dominion, who converted the previous castle into a palace including apartments for the princes and a mosque. Later on the palace has been used by the Normans and all the subsequent rulers of Sicily as their main royal palace. It has been the center of the arts, poetry and science in the entire Europe until the XV century, when a period of abandon started. It has then been renewed by the Spanish rulers and today hosts the Sicilian Parliament and the Sicilian government. As it is today, the Palace is the result of centuries of work, construction and re-construction and contains all possible styles. Also its current shape is very different from the initial one, as several parts have been demolished during the different restorations. In the basement the archeological remains of the old Phoenician castle can be visited. The main areas of the current palace, that can also be visited, are the Cappella Palatina, the royal apartments, the two courtyards and the parliament room.

Open: Mon-Sat 8.15 - 17.40 | Sun 8.15 - 13.00 
Ticket 14€

The Cappella Palatina was the private chapel of the Norman kings. It is built in the typical byzantine style, with rich golden mosaics. The plant of the church is that of a Greek cross and it feature a high dome. The mosaics, extremely beautiful, feature the traditional scenes from the Bible, starting with the dome, where the image of Jesus Christ is central in the typical gesture of raising its right hand, while holding the Godspell with its right hand. The Christ is surrounded by angels, prophets and apostles. Also on the walls of the church can be seen other episodes coming both from the old testament (like the story of Noah) and new testament (especially episodes from the life of Jesus and the Holy Mary). The church is dedicated also to the apostles and fathers of the Catholic church Peter and Paul, to whom are dedicated the altars on the left and right of the church. But the very unique element of the church is the wooden ceiling, decorated by Islamic artists in typical Islamic way, but also featuring elements from the North of Europe (which were forbidden in the real Islamic countries), like hunting scenes and human shapes.

The church is completely integrated in the Palazzo dei Normanni, and like the palace it has been renovated and modified during the centuries.

Open: Mon-Sat 8.15 - 17.40 | Sun 8.15 - 13.00 
Ticket 14€

La Zisa was the Summer palace of the Norman kings and was built with the intent of being even more magnificent than the Palazzo dei Normanni. La Zisa was located outside of the old city, within a big park, which today has been completely been absorbed by the city. The palace itself has three floors and was built keeping in mind the needs of the Sicilian Summer: in front of the palace there is a very large pool of water that allows to the air to become colder before arriving inside the palace. In the palace a series of corridors and tunnels function as a very efficient air conditioning system. The most important and iconic place is the so called Sala delle Fontana (the fountain room), where the water for the large pool starts and used by the king to receive his guests. The style of the palace merges the Arabic taste with the Norman architecture. Built in the XII century, it has been untouched until the XVI century, when the first restoration works started. Unfortunately the palace has been heavily modified by its owners during the centuries, and sometimes badly restored. The Italian government has taken the ownership of the palace in the 1950s, but failed to repair it. In particular, in 1971 one part of the palace collapsed and it took about 20 years of work for the entire palace to be rebuilt and be available for the visitors. Today it hosts the museum of Islamic arts.

Mon-Sat 9.00 - 19.00 | Sun 9.00 - 13-30
Ticket 6€

The Cattedrale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta, the Cathedral of Palermo, is the main church of the city. Built in the area where the a Phoenician necropolis and religious area was located, what we see today is the results of centuries of constructions. Differently from all of the other churches of the city, the Cathedral is an island, meaning that it is not attached to any other building and as such it has four different facades. The main entrance is in the Southern side of the church, where the main street Via Vittorio Emanuele runs. In front of this main entrance there is a garden surrounded by a low wall featuring several statues of saints.

The church itself was built during the byzantine time, but was then used as a mosque by the Arabs. It was the biggest mosque in Sicily, able to accommodate 7000 people. The Normans converted it once again into a church, but the Arabic influence in the structure is still very present. Inside the church hosts the coffin of several rulers of Sicily, among which Frederic II. Most of the church as we see it today has been built during the Spanish ruling in the XVIII and XIX century, and the baroque influence in the interiors is very strong. Among other things, the church hosts the chapel of Saint Rosalia, the protector of the city of Palermo, and her remains are preserved within a silver coffin.

Open Mon-Sat 9.00 - 17.30 | Sun - 9.00 - 13-30
Ticket 8€ (for museum and roof, otherwise free)

Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, is the classic example of a catholic church built with an Arabic style for the sole esthetic purpose. The church was build in 1132 by the Normans as part of a larger monastery, in the sight were a mosque used to be. The Normans often destroyed the Arabic architectures, being very catholic, but later rebuilt churches and palaces mixing the Arabic style with the Nordic one. The very strong Arabic influence can be seen in the red domes on the roof of the church, restored in 1801. Next to the church it is still possible to visit a part of the monastery, a cloister with beautifully decorated little arches and column.

Open Mon 9.00 - 13.15 | Tue-Sun 9.00 - 13.15 & 14.00 - 18.30
Ticket 6€

Chiesa della Martorana, the Martorana Church, is also called Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio and, even though born as a catholic church, it is today the main church of the Albanian population in Sicily, who have its own rituals very similar to the Orthodox Church ones. This Albanian community moved into the church only at the end of the second world war, when their church had been bombed and were in need of a new place.

Nevertheless the church was built in the XII century a.C. by an Admiral (Ammiraglio) of the Norman king Ruggero II. The church was originally built with an Islamic taste, while internally decorated with the Byzantine style, that is golden mosaics depicting Jesus and its angels, together with several episodes from the old and new testament. As can be seen both from the outside and the inside, during the century the church has been extensively modified. Especially evident are the baroque addition, both to the facade and to one portion of the interior. This mix of styles make the Martorana Church a unique monument.

The name Martorana comes from the name of the founder of the Benedectine Monastery to which the church used to belong, Luisa Martorana, a noble woman from Palermo. The Church also gives the name to the famous fruit-shaped marzipan sweet, typical from Sicily, the Frutta Martorana. The legend says that in the XVI century a.C. the Emperor Charles the V came to visit the church. The nuns wanted to give him a good impression of the orange garden, but it was September and no oranges were still on the trees, so they decided to make fake marzipan oranges and hang them on the trees, to give a colorful touch to the garden for the Emperor.

Open Mon-Sat 9.00 - 13.00 & 15.30 - 17.30 | Sun 9.00 - 10.00
Ticket 2€

Chiesa di San Cataldo, the Church of San Cataldo, is the symbol of the Norman-Arabic culture in Palermo. It was built in the XII century a.C. by an admiral of the king Guglielmo II who came from Bari, in Apulia, and this is probably the reason why the church is dedicated to San Cataldo, very much worshiped in that region.

While today we see the church isolated from any other building, like an island, it was originally connected to pre-existent constructions and, during the XIX century even completely integrated into another building. It was in this period when the church was even used as a post office, completely losing its original function as a church.

It is only in 1882 that a famous Palermo architect, Giuseppe Patricolo, completely and radically renovated the church, removing all modern constructions from it and restoring the iconic three domes on the roof. The color of the domes is today dark red, nevertheless this was probably not the original color, but an idea of the architect Patricolo, who also renovated the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti using the same approach.

Outside the church shows the typical Islamic style of architecture, while inside the look is still quite medieval, with marbled floor and high arches holding the three domes, with very little decorations still visible.

Open  Mon-Sun 9.30 - 12.30 & 15.00 - 18.00
Ticket 2.50€

Ponte dell'Ammiraglio, the Bridge of the Admiral, is a bridge built in the XII century a.C. by the same Admiral who built the Martorana Church, Giorgio d'Antiochia, with the purpose of connecting the center of the city to the area outside of the Oreto river. This river used to surround the city during the medieval time and until the modern time was usually cause of continuous floods and for this reason its course has been changed. Today no river is running below the bridge, which is now part of a green park. The bridge is built in such a way to hold very heavy weight and to resist all possible events, from floods to battles.

Open every day 
Ticket free

Cattedrale o Duomo del Santissimo Salvatore in Cefalù, the Cathedral is also known as Basilica Cattedrale della Trasfigurazione or simply Duomo di Cefalù, belongs to the churches that the king Ruggero II himself has built in the XII century a.C.. According to the legend the king decided to build this church after coming safe to the shores of Cefalù, surviving to a storm, and as sign of gratitude to Jesus. The king even planned to be buried in the church together with his wife, and for this reason he put two elegant marble coffins in the church.

The church took almost 100 years to be completed and it was finished by Friedrich II, who instead decided to use those coffins for himself, bringing them to the Cathedral of Palermo.

Outside the church is a mixture of Nordic Romanic style and Arabic taste. One main characteristic are the two towers on the sides of the facade, with two different roofs, one with the shape of pyramid symbolizing the pope and one with a octagonal shape symbolizing the king.

Inside the church is characterized by the rich mosaics, Byzantine style, that decorate the area around the altar. Following the typical images, the mosaics show Jesus with his right hand raised: the two fingers symbolize his double nature of human and god; the other three fingers united together symbolize the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). With the left hand he holds the new testament. Below we can see the Holy Mary, the angels, prophets, evangelists and saints, all with their own name written below. Of particular value is the wooden cross on the altar, painted in the XV century and initially thought to be hanging from the main arch of the church.

Open Mon- Sun | April-October: 8.30 - 18.30 & November-March 8.30-13-00 & 15.30-18.00
Ticket free & 3€ for the cloister

Cattedrale o Duomo di Santa Maria Nuova in Monreale, the Church is also simply known as Duomo di Monreale, is probably the highest example of Byzantine art applied by the Normans during their reign in Sicily. The church was built in the XII century a.C. bu the king Guglielmo.

The legend says that Guglielmo il Buono (Guglielmo the Good), while resting after hunting in the woods of Monreale, had a dream where the Holy Mary told him of a treasure buried below where he was sleeping, asking him to dig in order to find the treasure and build a church with those money. Indeed Guglielmo woke up and ordered to look for the treasure, that he actually found and with these funds build the Duomo.

The Duomo of Monreale was build at the same time of the Duomo of Palermo and it was a constant competition between the king Guglielmo who was building the Duomo in Monreale and the bishop who was building the Duomo in Palermo. While the king was focusing more on the interior, as a symbol of the inner beauty of the men, the bishop focused more on the exterior, believing that this was important to attract people to the church. When they finished they went to see the result of the other and realized what they were missing in their own constructions (the king the exterior beauty and the bishop the interior beauty).

While the exterior of the Duomo of Monreale follows the typical Norman-Arabic architecture, the real masterpiece is in the inside, where the whole church is covered by Byzantine mosaics illustrating episodes both from the old and the new testament, together with the central image of Jesus Christ over the main altar. Being the people a that time mostly unable to read, looking at those mosaics was for them the only way to learn about the Bible stories and to always be reminded of the fundamentals of the catholic religion.

Open Mon- Sun | April-October: 8.30 - 12.45 & 14.00-16.45 & November-March 8.30-12-30 & 14.30-16.30
Ticket 4€