| Arab-Norman itinerary (Palermo, Monreale is Cefalù) | |
 | |
| Itinerary type | Automotive |
|---|---|
| State | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Territory | Palermo coast is Palermo hinterland |
| City | Palermo, Monreale is Cefalù |
| Tourism site | |
Arab-Norman itinerary it is an itinerary that develops through Palermo, Monreale is Cefalù.
Introduction
This itinerary concerns the Arab-Norman monuments of the eleventh century, several of which have been recognized World Heritage of Humanity.
Background
The Islamic period
The Islamic dominion over Sicily began starting from the landing near Mazara del Vallo in 827 and ended with the fall of Known in 1091. The period of Islamic domination of Sicily can be divided into three parts: the first when (827-910) Sicily had a governor appointed by the Aghlabid Emir of Al-Kairouan (Tunisia), the second (910-948) with the Fatimid rulers of Shiite faith and the third (948-1072) of the Kalbites, a Shiite-Ismaili dynasty that ended up ruling the island, as an independent emirate. Between 1050 and 1091 there were independent Emirates until the arrival of the Normans.
Muqarnas of the Palatine Chapel
Palermo (Balarm) was designated the capital as the residence of the Emir and had a notable urban development becoming powerful and populous. Ibn Hawqal in his Trip to Sicily speaks of Palermo as a city of "three hundred mosques". Despite this, the majority of the population did not convert toIslam. According to the majority of historians, Sicily, with the conquest, flourished both economically and culturally and enjoyed a long period of prosperity. In 1050 Palermo reached 350,000 inhabitants, becoming one of the largest cities inEurope, behind only the capital of the Emirate of Spain, Cordoba, and to the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. Following the Norman invasion, the population dropped to 150,000, and then declined further to 51,000 in 1330. The Islamic presence led to the adoption of terms of Arabic origin in the island's dialects. Being the language in use for a long time, Arabic has also engraved on the toponymy of several names on the island. For example, the term which at 'rocca, castle' is at the origin of several poleonyms such as Calascibetta, Caltanissetta, Caltagirone, Caltavuturo; jebel 'mount' originated toponyms such as Gibilmanna, Gibellina, Mongibello.
The Norman period
Roger II receives the crown from Christ, mosaic of the Church of the Martorana
The history of Norman Sicily originates with the Norman conquest which began in 1061 with the landing in Messina, and ends with the death of the last member of the Altavilla family of Sicily, Constance, in 1198. In 1130 the Norman domination will establish a kingdom on the island with Roger II: the crown will then be surrounded by William I, William II and finally from Tancred.
With the conquest of Palermo, the roles on which future power relations will be based are established: the Muslims would have retained their judges, while Roberto attributes the title of malik, the word that in Arabic indicates the king, as evidenced by the numerous gold tarì, the coins he minted. The Normans brought the Latin Christian cult to the island. The Norman conquest did not coincide with the elimination of the Muslim element, still numerically consistent, despite the many migrations towards the Maghreb, the Spain Muslim and theEgypt. The Normans, on the political, economic and juridical level, preserved some elements of the Muslim organization and some elements of Arab architecture, as testified by some buildings and churches in Palermo and above all the Norman royal palace called "la Zisa".
Architecture
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Cuba in the Arab-Norman era
L'Arab-Norman architecture it is the style of building typical of the Norman era, which spread mainly in Sicily and southern Italy in the 12th century. The adjective "Arab" derives from some architectural-decorative elements attributable to the Arab-Muslim world; while the "Norman" one from the architecture, culture and dominant royal lineage. The apex of the style occurs almost a century after the conquest of Sicily by the Normans, which took place in 1071, when the new royals tried to create their own architectural style that encompasses the various cultures present on the island.
This style therefore wants to underline the cultural and artistic characteristics in force in the period, which elaborated a unique architectural synthesis including various styles (Romanesque-Gothic, Byzantine, Arab, Norman). During the Norman dominion, in Sicily and southern Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries, these syncretized art typologies gave rise to a flowering of buildings, masterpieces of the Sicilian-Norman architectural school.
When to go
The itinerary can be done at any time of the year as there are no particular climatic problems.
Who is it for?
The itinerary is aimed at the simple tourist but also at those who are passionate about medieval architecture and history.
How to get
| The red domes of Palermo |
 The domes of San Giovanni degli Eremiti The red color of the domes of the Arab-Norman buildings of Palermo make the urban landscape and the architectural representation we have of them typical, yet they are a false historical ... In the early twentieth century the architect Giuseppe Patricolo he was commissioned to restore the historic buildings of the city and in the Arab-Norman domes he noticed the presence of a reddish color which was actually the waterproof layer applied and oxidized by time. He considered it the original color and since then the red color has been used also in the new restorations as it has become typical. |
By plane
- 1 Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport (Falcone e Borsellino Airport, IATA: PMO), ☎ 39 0917020273. The airport is connected to the city center by the Metropolitan Rail Service Trinacria Express or shuttle buses operated by Prestia and Comandè. Trains run every thirty minutes. They make stops at the Central stations, Vespri, Palazzo Reale - Orleans, Notarbartolo, France, San Lorenzo Colli, Tommaso Natale, Isola delle Femmine, Carini, Cinisi, Punta Raisi at a cost of € 5.80. The whole journey takes about an hour. The bus, with a bi-hourly frequency, takes about 50 minutes from Palermo Centrale station and 40 from Piazza Politeama, with stops also at other points along the Corso della Libertà, ticket cost € 6.30 (summer 2015). If you reach the airport by car, the parking is subject to charges. Punta Raisi airport operates national and international flights, and various connections low cost. Numerous periodic tourist flights in summer e charter.
- 2 Port of Palermo. Main connections of the port of Palermo:
- Cagliari (Tirrenia)
- Civitavecchia (GNV) Night crossing of about 12 hours.
- Genoa (GNV) Departure at 20.00 duration of the trip about 23 hours.
- Naples (GNV, Tirrenia) Departure from Naples in the evening around 20.30. Ferries arrive in Palermo at 07:00 the next day
- Salerno (Grimaldi lines)
- Furthermore, local (sometimes seasonal) connection services connect Palermo to Ustica, Cefalù is Aeolian Islands.
- Tunis in about 9 hours through GNV and Grimaldi.
- Tunis in about 9 hours through GNV and Grimaldi.
On the train
- 3 Palermo Central Station, Piazza Giulio Cesare. There are long-distance trains to and from Milan Central, Rome Terms, Turin New door and other major Italian cities.
- As for regional connections, there are direct trains to the cities of Messina, Catania, Agrigento is Trapani.
By bus
- 4 Extra-urban bus terminal, Course of the Thousand (Next to the central station). The Cuffaro bus lines connects Palermo with Agrigento, Canicattì, Favara, Racalmuto, Castrofilippo is Caves.
- There F.lli Camilleri company connects with Agrigento, or with Aragon, Cool them down is St. Elizabeth.
- There Prestia and Comandé company connect with Cianciana passing by Santo Stefano Quisquina, Bivona is Alessandria della Rocca. Or with Santa Cristina Gela passing by Villagrazia, Altofonte, Rebuttone is Plain of the Albanians.
Stages
Palermo
Arab-Norman itinerary: full-screen map.Historical center of Palermo
St. Mary Magdalene
- 5 Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, Via Vittorio Emanuele, 469 (Inside the "Dalla Chiesa - Calatafimi" barracks complex, The boss).
The church, not visible from the outside, is not easily accessible, therefore it is difficult to visit except on particular occasions.. In 1130 there was an older chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene, built by Elvira di Castiglia, first wife of Roger II of Sicily, to house her remains and those of Norman counts, dukes, princes, kings and queens. The chapel was adjacent to the south side of the original cathedral. In 1187, the chapel was demolished and the sepulchral sacelli of the Norman princes were temporarily transferred, pending the completion of the construction of the new cathedral, where they would find their final location. Subsequently, the barracks complex was built around it.
The church, not visible from the outside, is not easily accessible, therefore it is difficult to visit except on particular occasions.. In 1130 there was an older chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene, built by Elvira di Castiglia, first wife of Roger II of Sicily, to house her remains and those of Norman counts, dukes, princes, kings and queens. The chapel was adjacent to the south side of the original cathedral. In 1187, the chapel was demolished and the sepulchral sacelli of the Norman princes were temporarily transferred, pending the completion of the construction of the new cathedral, where they would find their final location. Subsequently, the barracks complex was built around it.
The entrance to the cathedral
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6 Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary of the Assumption), Corso Vittorio Emanuele (The boss). The Cathedral of Palermo is a grandiose architectural complex composed in different styles, due to the various phases of construction. Erected in 1185 by archbishop Gualtiero Offamilio on the area of the first basilica that the Saracens had transformed into a mosque, it has undergone various alterations over the centuries; the last was at the end of the eighteenth century, when, on the occasion of the structural consolidation, the interior was radically redone to a design by Ferdinando Fuga. In fact, in 1767, Archbishop Filangieri had commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to carry out a conservative restoration of the building, aimed solely at consolidating its structure. The works began only in 1781, carried out not by Fuga but by Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia from Palermo and lasted until the late nineteenth century. The renovations of Marvuglia were actually much more invasive and radical than the projects of the Florentine architect, who instead thought of preserving, at least in part, the longitudinal complex of the naves and the original wooden ceiling. The restoration intervened to change the original appearance of the complex, endowing the church with the characteristic but discordant dome, executed according to the drawings of the Fuga. It was on this occasion that the precious tribune that Antonello Gagini had erected at the beginning of the 16th century and which was decorated with statues, friezes and reliefs, was destroyed. The picturesque majolica domes intended to cover the side aisles also date back to the renovation in 1781.
- Inside the cathedral there are the tombs of the kings who reigned in Palermo including the tomb of Frederick II of Swabia. The church also has an element of great union and respect between the faiths, in the left pillar of the entrance there is an ancient Arabic inscription bearing a sura from the Koran.
Chapel of the Incoronata
- 7 Chapel of the Incoronata, Via Coronazione, 11 (To the west it faces the Episcopal Palace, to the north the church of Santa Cristina la Vetere, on the opposite corner to the east on the same Via Incoronazione stands the church of the Madonna di Monte Oliveto called "Badia nuova", The boss). It is a Norman building made up of a chapel with a single nave with a north-south axis and a portico-loggia known as "of the Coronation" about as wide as the chapel and the remains of a vestibule. The Coronation chapel under the title of "Santa Maria Incoronata" was the cult building for the coronation of sovereigns and the acclamation of the same to the public through the balustrade. Later it took on the function of archive of the cathedral and of the writings of the Maramma (a word that derives from the ancient-Norman French). It kept the inventory of materials and housed the controllers responsible for managing the "Fabbrica del duomo". The basement has the remains of two columns that supported the floor of the ancient mosque that was present here.
Church of Santa Cristina Vetere
- 8 Church of Santa Cristina la Vetere, Pellegrini courtyard (in the north-western area adjacent to the cathedral, The boss). Arab-Norman church built around 1174 and dedicated to the holy martyr is the patron saint of the city before the cult of Santa Rosalia was established is one of the oldest churches in Palermo. The building has a Greek cross plan and has an apse from a later period. Four pillars support as many pointed arches, which intersect form the central vault.
Palace of the Normans
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- 9 Palace of the Normans (or Royal Palace), Independence Square (Hotel house), ☎ 39 091 7056001. The palace is the oldest royal residence in Europe, home to the kings of the Kingdom of Sicily such as Frederick II of Swabia and the historic Sicilian Parliament established in 1130 by the Norman king Roger II and considered among the oldest parliaments in the world. Today theSicilian Regional Assembly. The building stands on pre-existing Phoenician foundations dated between the eighth and fifth centuries BC. The ancient foundation dates back to the Arab era, but it was in the Norman era that the most important architectural transformations took place and which gave shape to the typically Arab-Norman style of the facades.
- On the roof of the building there are astronomical domes of the National Institute of Astrophysics, previously it was a Bourbon astronomical observatory where on 1 January 1801 the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi Ceres the first asteroid discovered there.
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Palatine Chapel
- 10 Palatine Chapel (called the Chapel of the Palace), Independence Square (Hotel house). It is a three-nave church located inside the Norman Palace. The church dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle was built by King Roger II of Sicily as a private chapel. It was inaugurated in 1143. On the walls there are prodigious cycles of mosaics with episodes from the Old and New Testaments. At the center of the dome the Christ Pantocrator, depicted in blessing with his right hand, with the left holding the book of the Gospels closed, on the sides there are eight archangels. The wooden caisson ceilings have the shape of muqarnas produced by masters of the Fatimid school with zoomorphic and phytomorphic ornaments.
Palermo - Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti
- 11 Church and Cloister of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Via dei Benedettini (near the Norman palace, Hotel house), ☎ 39 091 6515019. Built in 1136 by King Roger II. The church is built according to the canons of Sicilian-Norman architecture; it is a Romanesque church that externally resembles oriental buildings. This reference to the East is even more emphasized by the bright red domes supposed by the architect Giuseppe Patricolo and which has become typical of the domes of Palermo. The presbytery, ending in a niche, is surmounted by a dome, like that of the two quadrangular bodies that flank it and of which the one on the left rises to a bell tower. The cloister, embellished by a luxuriant garden, is the best preserved part of the primitive monastery; the paired columns with acanthus leaf capitals that support ogival arches with double ferrules stand out for their beauty and lightness. There is also an Arab cistern.
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Church of San Cataldo
- 12 Church of San Cataldo, Bellini Square (Via Maqueda, Kalsa). Founded by Maione di Bari between 1154 and 1160, the building was subsequently entrusted to the Benedictines of Monreale. After being incorporated into a neoclassical building, it was completely restored and returned to the original architectural structure. The works were completed in 1885, when the domes were colored with dark red plaster, a color that characterizes other Norman monuments in Palermo. Following the demolition of the seventeenth-century building facing Via Maqueda, damaged by bombing in 1943 and removed in 1948, at the foot of the church base, a fragment of the ancient Punic walls was brought to light. The flooring with marble inlays and porphyry and serpentine slabs, although supplemented by restorations, still substantially retains its precious original shape. The exterior is in sandstone with blind arches and openwork rings, of Islamic influence. At the top there are three red domes in chromatic contrast with the walls. The interior has three naves separated by columns. It is part of theArab-Norman itinerary of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale of Unesco.
Martorana Church
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- 13 Martorana Church (Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio or also San Nicolò dei Greci), Piazza Bellini, 3 (Kalsa), ☎ 39 0918571029. It was founded in 1143 at the behest of George of Antioch, an Orthodox admiral in the service of the Norman king Roger II. Built by oriental artists according to the Byzantine style, it is accessed from the bell tower, with a square plan of the thirteenth century, opened at the bottom by arches with corner columns and with three orders of large mullioned windows. The church has a Greek cross shape, extended with the narthex and the atrium. An axial portal overlooks the atrium and the narthex, as in the first Christian churches. Beyond the narthex, the building is arranged and decorated like a 4-column Byzantine church, except for the pointed arches and spandrels of the dome which were Islamic in taste. The interior is decorated with mosaics and Greek inscriptions, but there are also written in Arabic which makes it a church that combines Greek, Catholic and Islamic culture. Other parts of the roof are decorated with frescoes from the Baroque period. In 1846 the square was lowered and the staircase was built. Between 1870 and 1873 it was restored. Today the church is the reference point for 15,000 arbëreshë faithful, the Albanian community of Sicily that professes the Byzantine rite. It is part of the Unesco "Arab-Norman Itinerary of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale".
Basilica La Magione
- 14 Basilica La Magione (Basilica of the Holy Trinity of the Chancellor), Piazza della Magione (Kalsa). Founded in 1191 by the chancellor of the Norman kingdom Matteo d'Aiello, Tancred he buried his son there Roger III and he himself wanted to be buried in the Basilica.
- The façade is characterized by three pointed portals, the two smaller ones on the sides, splayed and framed by ashlars. In the second order there is a theory of five single-lancet windows, of which three are blind the central ones. In the pediment that closes the façade, there are three single lancet windows, the central one is placed in line with the main portal. The motif of the single lancet windows with ferrules is repeated on the lateral sides and in the apses, of which the central one is designed by well protruding intertwined arches while in the smaller ones, bearing slender pointed arches, they are barely hinted at. The church presents itself as a particular example of Arab-Norman art with the ogival recessed windows and the motif of the intertwined arches reproduced in the apse typical of the period. Eight columns, six arches and various walkable levels lead into the presbytery.
Castello a Mare
- 15 Castello a Mare, Via Filippo Patti (The Loggia), ☎ 39 335227009. A first fortification was built in the Arab era around the 9th century, built facing the sea for the control and defense of the port, close to La Cala, in the area adjacent to the Kalsa. The current structure was built in the Norman period by Roberto il Guiscardo and the Great Count Ruggero after the conquest. The castle was also used in subsequent eras, becoming the temporary residence of the viceroy of Sicily in the sixteenth century but also the Court of the Inquisition. It was used as a military barracks until 1922. In 1923, as part of the expansion and reorganization of the port, it was demolished with charges of dynamite. It suffered further damage during the bombing of the Second World War. Of the ancient buildings, part of the main tower, the cylindrical tower and the entrance body remain.
West Palermo
Main hall niche with fountain and Muqarnas.
The Zisa
- 16 Zisa Castle (Museum of Islamic Art), Zisa square. The Palazzo della Zisa stood outside the walls of the city of Palermo, inside the Norman royal park, the Genoardo (from the Arabic Jannat al-arḍ or "garden" or "paradise of the earth"), which extended with splendid pavilions, lush gardens and water basins from Altofonte up to the walls of the royal palace. The first news of the building dates back to 1165 it was completed in construction in 1175. In 1806, the Zisa came to the Princes Notarbartolo, who made it their residence by carrying out various consolidation works, such as the compensation of injuries on the walls and the chaining of the themselves to contain the thrusts of the vaults. The distribution of the rooms was transformed through the construction of partitions, mezzanines, internal stairways and in 1860 the vault of the second floor was covered to build the pavilion floor obtained on the terrace. In 1955 the building was expropriated by the state, and the restoration work, which began immediately, was suspended shortly after. After fifteen years of neglect and abandonment, in 1971 the right wing, structurally compromised by the works and restoration, collapsed. Only in 1991 did the building reopen in the face of a reconstruction of the collapsed parts and the creation of a museum of Islamic art.
- The palace, conceived as a summer residence of the kings, represents one of the best examples of the union of Norman art and architecture with typical environments of the Norman house (including the double cuspidated tower) and Arab decorations and engineering for the exchange of air in the rooms. It is, in fact, a building facing north-east, that is towards the sea in order to better capture through the three large archways of the facade and the large belvedere window the winds that were dampened by the passage over the large fish pond in front of the building and the presence of running water inside the Sala della Fontana which gave a great feeling of coolness.
Cubula
- 17 Cubula (Little Cuba), Via di Villa Naples (Inside the garden of Villa Napoli), ☎ 39 0917071425. This small building dates back to 1184 and was built by architects fatimids at the request of the king William II of Sicily as part of the garden of the soprana Cuba. It has a square plan surmounted by a circular dome and ogival arches with regular ashlars with three slightly recessed ferrules. The monument is waiting to be included in the Arab-Norman itinerary of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Cuba Castle
- 18 Palace of Cuba (Cuba castle, Cuba petticoat), Calatafimi Course, 100. Cuba was built in 1180 for King William II. The original use was as a pavilion of delights, that is, a place where the King and his court could spend pleasant hours in the cool of the fountains and citrus gardens, resting during the day or attending parties and ceremonies in the evening. The news about the client and the date are known thanks to the epigraph placed on the attic wall of the building.
- In the following centuries, the lake was drained and pavilions were built on the banks, used as a lazaret from the plague, as accommodation for a company of Burgundian mercenaries and finally property of the State in 1921. In the 1980s the restoration began. The building has a rectangular shape, in the center of each side protrude four bodies in the shape of a tower. The most protruding body was the only access to the palace from the mainland. The external walls are decorated with pointed arches and in the lower part there are some windows separated by masonry pillars. At the center of the internal environment you can see the remains of a splendid marble fountain, while the central hall was embellished with muqarnas. It was precisely in Cuba, among the waters and trees that surrounded it, that Boccaccio set the sixth story of the fifth day of his Decameron. It is the love story between Gian di Procida and Restituta, a beautiful girl from Ischia kidnapped by "young Cicilians" to offer it as a gift to the then king of Sicily: Frederick II of Aragon.
- It was precisely in Cuba, among the waters and trees that surrounded it, that Boccaccio set the sixth story of the fifth day of his Decameron. It is the love story between Gian di Procida and Restituta, a beautiful girl from Ischia kidnapped by "young Cicilians" to offer her as a gift to the then king of Sicily: Frederick III of Aragon.
Holy Trinity at the Zisa
- 19 church of the Holy Trinity alla Zisa (Palatine Chapel of the Zisa), Via G. Whitaker, 42 (Next to the entrance to the Palazzo della Zisa). The building dates back to 1175 and became a private chapel commissioned by William I of Sicily, accessible via an ancient passage from the Palazzo della Zisa. The building will undergo transformations with the inclusion of a subsequent church which will make the ancient plant used as a sacristy. In the eastern part of the oldest building there is a dome that rests on an internal octagonal drum formed by the alternation of single-lancet windows and splayed niches, connected to the walls by muqarnas. In the upper part of the wall opposite the altar there are two windows where it is thought that the sovereigns looked out to attend mass.
- 20 High Jesuit Qanat, Micciulla Fund, 25, ☎ 39 3498478288, 39 091329407.
10 € (Dec 2020). by reservation, Mon-Fri 19:00 onwards. The Qanat is a water transport system of Persian origin. Along the entire tunnel, generally 1.55 meters high and 0.60-0.80 meters wide, wells open onto the vault that allowed access to the tunnel and for ventilation. The slope of these tunnels varies between 4 and 6 per thousand, it is visible for about 1100 meters. The Qanat was partially enlarged by the Jesuits who were the owners of the overlying estates.
10 € (Dec 2020). 
Castello dell'Uscibene
- 21 Castello dell'Uscibene (Palazzo Scibene or Palazzo dello Scibene), Via Nave, 6, West Palermo. According to some interpretations, its construction could be dated between 1130 and 1154 in the middle of the Ruggerian period, but it is also possible that its construction can be delayed for a few decades. It is a place of summer solace located in the western part of the city, it was probably inhabited by some Palermo archbishops. The monument is the result of a stratified history of transformations and restorations that have affected it from the nineteenth century to today. In the center there is a fountain similar to that of the Zisa castle and is located in a cruciform room, there are also small oriental-type vaults. The building is in a total state of neglect, crushed (unfortunately) by vegetation and debris.
South Palermo
Church of the Holy Spirit
- 22 Church of the Holy Spirit (Vespro church) (Inside the Sant'Orsola cemetery). The building was erected between 1173 and 1178. On March 30, 1282 in front of the church on Easter Tuesday in the hour of vespers begins the popular uprising of the Palermitans against the Angevins known as Sicilian Vespers. Since then, the abbey complex has been known as the Santo Spirito del Vespro. The plant has three naves with six columns, eight arches and a main chapel by Antonello Gagini. The exterior is presented with polychrome combinations obtained from the alternation of tuff and lava ashlars, which make up delicate geometries, a contamination of Arab-Norman and Gothic styles. The exteriors of the apses have windows with ashlar frames, intertwining ribs, high pointed arches and a grille with Arabesque motifs. The side elevations have decorations with lava inlays in the realization of the blind arches.
Maredolce Castle
- 23 Maredolce Castle (Favara Palace), Vicolo del Castellaccio 23. The palace, improperly called "castle", was built in 1071, and was part of a fortified citadel located at the foot of Mount Grifone. In addition to the palace, the complex included a hammam and a fish pond. The building was one of the residences of the Norman king Roger II, who would have adapted it for his purposes from a pre-existing palace that belonged to the Kalbite Emir Jaʿfar in the 10th century. Over the centuries the castle underwent changes from the Normans and the Swabians and was transformed into a fortress. In 1328 it was given to the Teutonic knights-friars of the Magione, who transformed it into a hospital. In 1460 the structure was granted to the Sicilian Beccadelli family and was transformed into an agricultural building. After World War II. the structure fell into a progressive decay as a result of the numerous forms of illegal activity that followed one another over the following decades. In 1992 the Sicilian Region acquired the building by expropriation and began the restoration work in 2007. The building, at the behest of Roger II, was surrounded by an artificial lake, which surrounded it on three sides, and was immersed in a large park, where Roger II delighted in hunting. The basin, which had an island of about two hectares in the center, was obtained thanks to a dam made up of blocks of tuff, which interrupted the course of the source of Mount Grifone. In the 16th century the spring dried up, and the fishpond became a fertile agricultural area, which still exists today. The Favara park was part of a system of royal residences of delight, the sollazzi regi, which enjoyed their maximum splendor under the William II.
Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi
- 24 Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi, Via Salvatore Cappello, 38 (not far from the Ponte dell'Ammiraglio), ☎ 39 091 475024. It is an Arab-Norman style church. It was built on the ruins of the castle of Yahya (Giovanni in Arabic) in 1071, during the reconquest by the Normans, at the hands of the troops of Roberto il Guiscardo and Ruggero I of Sicily. The surrounding buildings were used for the shelter and assistance of lepers, hence the nickname of San Giovanni de 'Lebbrosi.
- The church responds to the canons of Sicilian-Norman Romanesque architecture with a Latin cross with protruding transept and triple apse; it is considered one of the oldest medieval Norman-style buildings in the city, and in particular it is perhaps the oldest Latin cross church in Palermo. The exterior of the building is bare because it is devoid of decorations, except for the reliefs in ashlars of the single-light windows that guarantee the internal lighting. The entrance is simple, preceded by a small portico supported by a single corner pillar, on which the bell tower rests. The interior has a basilica plan divided into three naves by pillars, a wooden roof, a domed presbytery above the altar which included a primitive tribune.
Admiral's Bridge
- 25 Admiral's Bridge, course of the Thousand. It is a bridge with twelve arches from the Norman era completed around 1131 at the behest of Giorgio d'Antiochia, admiral of King Roger II of Sicily, to connect the city (which became the capital) to the gardens on the other side of the Oreto river. The use of very acute arches allowed the bridge to withstand very high loads. Now the river no longer flows under the arches of the Norman bridge, after its course was diverted due to its continuous overflows.
- The bridge has achieved an increase in tourist presences with the inauguration of the Palermo tram: in fact the bridge with the homonymous square have become one of the main stops on the route of line 1.
Outside Palermo
Monreale Cathedral
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- 26 Monreale Cathedral (Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova) (Monreale). Built starting in 1174 at the behest of William II of Sicily, king of Sicily, it is famous for the rich Byzantine mosaics that decorate the interior. According to legend, the king falling asleep under a carob tree would have dreamed of the Madonna who would have revealed to him the presence of a treasure under the tree. Once the tree was uprooted, a treasure in gold coins was found which he dedicated to the construction of the cathedral. The completion of the structure took place only in 1267, now in the Angevin period. In the following centuries, further additions were made. The plan is a Latin cross with a semicircular apse. There are the tombs of kings William I and William II of Sicily as well as of the French king Louis IX. The mosaics with a gold background show scenes from the Old and New Testament, among all the imposing figure of Christ Pantocrator stands out.
- The visit also includes that of the adjoining 12th century cloister. The eighteenth-century French traveler Jean Houel describes it thus: “The columns are all fluted, some are twisted, others straight. They are all encrusted with colored and gilded mosaics, granite, porphyry, all types of marble that form small designs of enchanting exactness. The capitals are a mixture of flowers, fruit, figures of animals of all kinds… ».
Cefalù Cathedral
- 27 Cefalù Cathedral, Piazza del Duomo (Cefalù). According to legend, it would have arisen following the vote to the Most Holy Savior by Roger II, who escaped a storm and landed on the beaches of the town. The real motivation seems rather of a politico-military nature, given its fortress character. The construction events were complex, with considerable variations compared to the initial project, and the building was never definitively completed. An ambulatory carved into the thickness of the wall and the same roof, consisting of three roofs, of different eras and construction techniques, testify to the changes that have taken place in the project. The monument has a Romanesque style with Byzantine features. From 3 July 2015 it is part of the World Heritage Site (Unesco) as part of the Arab-Norman Itinerary of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale. It has the dignity of a minor basilica.
Baths of Cefalà Diana
- 28 Baths of Cefalà Diana (about 2 km north-northeast of the municipality of Cefalà Diana). Seen from the outside, the building has the shape of a simple cube with unstructured walls. It is divided into two rooms of unequal dimensions by a triple pointed arch resting on two columns with Corinthian capitals. In the larger of the two areas, three basins are embedded in the floor. The pools were fed by hot and cold springs located nearby. It is not yet clear whether there was a spa at the time of the Arab domination in Sicily or whether it was built under the Normans.
Safety
The monuments located in the area of South Palermo are to be noted as the neighborhoods that host them (Brancaccio district) are rather degraded and the risk of theft and muggings is not a remote possibility.
We must avoid leaving valuables visible inside the car in all neighborhoods of Palermo.
