Showing 1-14 of 14 results
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Cappella Palatina
Downstairs in the Palazzo dei Normanni, just off the three-tiered loggia, is Palermo's premier tourist attraction, the Cappella Palatina, designed by Roger II in 1130. The chapel was under restoration at the time of research, with the ceiling and most of the walls covered by scaffolding, but the work is meant to be finished in the summer of 2008, when you should be able to see the mosaics in renewed shiny splendour.
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Chiesa della Magione
Across Piazza Magione from Lo Spasimo is the Chiesa della Magione, also known as La Magione. It's a fine example of the more austere Romanesque style that the Normans brought to Sicily.
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Chiesa di San Cataldo
While La Martorana preserves its interior, the small pink-domed Chiesa di San Cataldo is almost bare inside. It was founded in the 1150s by Maio of Bari (William I's emir of emirs) but Maio's murder in 1160 meant it was not finished - hence the lack of adornment within. However, the main interest lies in the exterior, which illustrates perfectly the synthesis of Arab-Norman styles.
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Chiesa di San Domenico
The Chiesa di San Domenico lies Off Via Roma. It was built in 1640 following the design of architect Andrea Cirincione; the façade was added in 1726 after the buildings that once occupied the square were demolished to give the church some space.
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Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi
The Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi (M0151) is Palermo's picture-perfect piazza, overlooked by the charming Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi , which features a fine rose window and a flamboyant Gothic portal; it's understandably popular on the wedding circuit. The church's most interesting feature is the rare arch of the Cappella Mastrantonio (Chapel of Mastrantonio), carved in 1468 by Francesco Laurana and Pietro da Bonitate, and one of the only true examples of Renaissance art in Palermo.
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Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti
Just south of the Palazzo dei Normanni, the Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti is Palermo's best-known example of the Norman-Arab architectural mix. Built under Roger II, it is topped by five red domes and set in a pretty, tree-filled garden with cloisters (admission around offering temporary respite from the chaos outside. The bare interior of the now deconsecrated church features some badly deteriorated frescoes.
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Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Teatini
In the southwestern corner of the Quattro Canti is the Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Teatini, topped by a soaring cupola. The monumental interior is baroque at its brashest, and has been lovingly restored after it suffered substantial damage during WWII.
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Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
The centrepiece of the Capo quarter is the imposing monastery of Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, which ran the region in medieval times.
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Chiesa di Santa Caterina
Closing off the eastern side of the square is the Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Palermo's finest baroque church. Belonging to a Dominican monastery, the church is held in trust by seven very old nuns, who kept the doors of the church shut for 14 years, finally opening them again for visitors on Christmas Eve 2006. The entrance is on Piazza Bellini.
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Chiesa di Santa Zita
The 14th-century Chiesa di Santa Zita church is named after the tired patron saint of domestic servants. The church's funerary chapels are particularly lavish, thanks to the clever idea of the Dominican priests who acquired the church in the 16th century to allow rich families to bury their dead here, thus collecting income for the priests' monastery.
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Complessa di Santa Maria dello Spasimo
Behind the Galleria Regionale Siciliana is the Complessa di Santa Maria dello Spasimo, with its elegant polygonal apse and a tall slender nave that has stood for centuries without a roof. The only example of northern Gothic in Sicily, the church was built by a wealthy doctor, Girolamo Basilicò, on his return from the Holy Land in the early 1500s.
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Il Capo Cathedral
Ambitious builders, the Normans converted mosques and palaces, giving rise to the Arab-Norman style that is unique to Sicily. Chief among these is the Il Capo Cathedral , an extraordinary feast of ziggurat crenellations, majolica cupolas, geometric patterns and blind arches.
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Il Capo Cathedral Treasury
Inside the Il Capo Cathedral is a magnificent treasury, whose most extraordinary exhibits are the fabulous 13th-century crown of Constance of Aragon (wife of Frederick II), made by local craftsmen in fine gold filigree and encrusted with gems, and a tooth extracted from Santa Rosalia, whose ashes are also kept here in a silver reliquary.
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La Martorana
Palermo's most famous - and beautiful - medieval church is La Martorana, which is often buzzing with wedding ceremonies (always scheduled late morning and usually on Saturdays).
Showing 1-14 of 14 results
