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