Centro Storico
Chiese di Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (links) und San Cataldo an der Piazza Bellini
Palermo arobo-normanno e le Cattedrali di Cefalù e Monreale The Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (known as the Martorana, Concathedral of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi), founded around 1140, was built as a private chapel dedicated to the Virgin and constitutes the symbol of the purity of the orthodox Byzantine genius. The Norman age structure is characterized by a Greek cross plant inscribed in a square and overlapped in the center by a dome. In the interior, the church is decorated with Byzantine mosaics (1143-1148), among the most amazing in the panorama of the production of Komnenos age. The monument is a component part of the UNESCO serial property “Arab-norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale": a series of nine religious and civic buildings dating back to the era of the Norman kingdom of Sicily (1130-1194). Collectively, they are an outstanding example of a socio-cultural syncretism between Western, Byzantine and Islamic cultures. This inter-change gave rise to an architectural and artistic expression based on new concepts of space, structure, and decoration that spread widely throughout the Mediterranean region.
Arabo-normannische Architektur der Chiesa di Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio
Palermo arabo-normanno e le Cattedrali di Cefalù e Monreale The Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (known as the Martorana, Concathedral of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi), founded around 1140, was built as a private chapel dedicated to the Virgin and constitutes the symbol of the purity of the orthodox Byzantine genius. The Norman age structure is characterized by a Greek cross plant inscribed in a square and overlapped in the center by a dome. In the interior, the church is decorated with Byzantine mosaics (1143-1148), among the most amazing in the panorama of the production of Komnenos age. The monument is a component part of the UNESCO serial property “Arab-norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale": a series of nine religious and civic buildings dating back to the era of the Norman kingdom of Sicily (1130-1194). Collectively, they are an outstanding example of a socio-cultural syncretism between Western, Byzantine and Islamic cultures. This inter-change gave rise to an architectural and artistic expression based on new concepts of space, structure, and decoration that spread widely throughout the Mediterranean region.
Arabo-normannische Architektur der Chiesa di San Cataldo
Palermo arabo-normanno e le Cattedrali di Cefalù e Monreale The Church of San Cataldo (around 1160) was built close to the Church of Santa Maria delI'Ammiraglio and, with it, it is a monument of strong attraction. Unlike San Giovanni degli Eremiti, developed as an unique room, the Church of San Cataldo presents a basilic body articulated by four columns. Through Islamic stereometries, the use of three domes on the central axle and of barrel vaults on the side spans, it translates with original language the model of the basilica church. The absence of inside coverings allows to better appreciate the architecture, the building apparatus, the articulation of the vaults and of the domes. The monument is a component part of the UNESCO serial property “Arab-norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale": a series of nine religious and civic buildings dating back to the era of the Norman kingdom of Sicily (1130-1194). Collectively, they are an outstanding example of a Socio-cultural syncretism between Western, Byzanitine and Islamic cultures. This interchange gave rise to an architectural and artistic expression based on new concepts of space, structure, and decoration that spread widely throughout the Mediterranean region.
Memoriale No Mafia, Via Vittorio Emanuele
http://www.nomafiamemorial.org/en/project/Mission