Criteria for the inclusion of Palermo Arab-Norman and the Cefalù and Monreale Cathedrals in the WHL
From the main gate to the aisles: an invitation to a journey of faith
The side aisles
the Baroque exterior
The towers and the western facade
Under the crosses of the Bema
The decorated facade
The senses tell the architecture
Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power
The plasticism of the main portico and Bonanno Pisano’s Monumental Bronze Door
The flooring: shapes, motifs and iconography
The senses tell restorations
The ancient convent of the Martorana, a history of devotion and tradition
The loca solatiorum: dwellings for recreation, well-being and hunting
The mosaics of the transept and the apses
The king’s mark
The senses tell the ceiling
The Cathedral over the centuries
The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral
The southern portico
The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work
The senses tell the architecture and decorations
Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period
The mosaic cycle, an ascending path towards the light
The stone bible
The return of water
The Gualtiero Cathedral
The Chapel of the Kings
The senses tell the historical context
The Admiral’s dedication
An architectural crescendo
The side Portico: a combination of elegance and lightness of form
The interior of the church
Tempus fugit: a strategic project implemented in a short period of time
The mosaics of the presbytery
Saint Peter’s Chapel in the Royal Palace
Worship services
Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo
The senses tell baroque decoration
The cultural substrate through time
The Norman conquest of Sicily and the birth of a new Latin kingdom
A new Cathedral
A Northern population
The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex
The balance between architecture and light
The decorations on the bell tower
The Cassaro
The chystro: a place between earth and sky
The mosaics of the naves
The senses tell Context 1
Two initially similar towers, varied over time
The Virgin Hodegetria
Biblical themes enlivened by the dazzling light of the stained – glass windows overlooking the naves
The beautiful Zisa and its garden: solacium regi among sounds, colours and scents
The Royal Throne
Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily
Decorations
The chapel of St. Benedict
Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God
A remarkable ceiling
The architectural envelope: the Greek cross layout oriented towards the light
The cemetery of kings
The marble portal: an intimate dialogue between complex ornamental aspects and formal structure
The senses tell the external architecture and the original layout
Mosaic decoration
Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses
The Kings’ Cathedrals
The beginning of the construction site
The senses tell the historical context
the roof of Paradise: one of the most representative works of medieval art
Cefalù: settlement evidence through time
The birth of the Norman kingdom
A space between the visible and the invisible
The towers facing the facade used as bell towers
The senses tell the historical context
The senses tell the flooring
Interior decorations
The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history
The chapel of the crucifix: an artistic casket based on a previous model
Transformations over the centuries
Beyond the harmony of proportions
The rediscovered palace
The original design
Ecclesia munita
The Genoard Park, the garden of pleasures and wonders
A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries
The architectural appearance and transformations over time
Gold and light: the splendour of the mosaics in the Royal Chapel
The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
From the Mosque to the Cathedral
Restorations
The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral
The area of the Sanctuary
The mosaics of the apses
A controversial interpretation
The Great Restoration
Palermo: the happiest city
Different styles and transformations of “one of the most beautiful monuments in the world”
The columns of the nave: the meticulous study of the overall order
The lost chapel
The rediscovered chapel
Shapes and colours of the wooden ceiling
A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations
the Baroque interior
The architectural space
Thirteenth-century iconography decorates the nave’s wooden ceiling, designed with new solutions
Survey of the royal tombs
The opus sectile floor of the Palatine Chapel
The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy
A tree full of life
The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon
A compositional design that combines nordic examples with new artistic languages, over the centuries
Squaring the circle
A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety
A building constructed in a short space of time
The senses tell the Zisa over the centuries
The longest aisle
The links between the hauteville family and the monastic orders in Sicily
Roger II’s strategic design
From earthquake to collapse
Intertwining of knowledge in Norman Palermo
Artistic elements in Peter’s ship
A palimpsest of history
The transformations of the hall through the centuries
The architectural modifications ti the cathedral building after the death of Roger II and the transformations of the cloister
The Bible carved in stone
The paradisiacal “Conca d’oro” that embraces Palermo: a name with countless faces through time
The Cefalù cathedral: a construction yard undergoing a change between a surge of faith and control over the territory
The Palace of Kings
The senses tell the interior
A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content
MiC – Ministero della Cultura
Legge 77/2006 - Misure Speciali di Tutela e Fruizione dei Siti Italiani di Interesse Culturale, Paesaggistico e Ambientale, inseriti nella “Lista Del Patrimonio Mondiale”, posti sotto la Tutela dell’ UNESCO Regione Siciliana.
Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana.
Parco archeologico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento.
