For a city that’s 2700 years old, any beginning seems arbitrary. So we begin with a less popular site, one that goes unmentioned in the leading guidebook for Sicily. Zisa Castle or el Aziz, was a summer hunting retreat built in the 12th century by the Norman kings.
Begun by William I and completed by his son William II, it had fountains in the main hall on the ground floor as well as in the castle gardens and was fashioned by Arab artisans.
The restoration reveals original details and surviving caches of amphorae, but the comparatively minor status of the site made it rather difficult to find the entrance, as we wandered the neighborhood.
We dropped by the archeology museum to be reminded just how deep history goes here, from Neolithic times to the Mycenaeans to the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, and so forth. Legend has it that this is where the refugees from Troy came. Here we have a tomb from 3000 BC.
A nice slipper shaped bath tub.
Poor old Actaeon being torn apart by dogs for having seen Artemis, the goddess of hunting, naked (450 BC).
And a procession of Amazons on a sarcophagus (170 AD).
The al-Qasr (now the Royal Palace or Palace of the Normans) was started by the Emir of Palermo in the 9th century. It was then enlarged and transformed by the Norman Kings following their conquest of Sicily in 1072.
Most of the interior of the Royal Palace was completed by Roger II, the father of William I. This room is known as the Roger II Hall.
The Royal Palace is the oldest royal palace in Europe. The Swabian emperors continued to use the palace, although it was only an administrative palace under the Angevin and Aragonese Kings until it became once again a royal residence under the Bourbon royal family when Leopold of Bourbon commissioned this Pompeian room.
The most sublime achievement of King Roger II was the Palatine Chapel built in 1132 on the second floor of the Royal Palace. The mosaics are so stunning, we forget to look down.
The chapel combines Byzantine, Latin, and Islamic styles in a way peculiar to Sicily.
Arab craftsmen built a wooden ceiling typical of Arab architecture, a muqarnas ceiling.
There is a Christ Pantocrator in both the dome and central apse.
With biblical stories arrayed on the walls and ceiling in gold mosaic, the effect is a magnificent space that is still used today. In fact, we carefully planned our visit to avoid a closure due to a wedding. And, yes, we did catch a glimpse of the bride.
It’s said that Pope Gregory I founded a Byzantine church here in the 6th Century. Now known as the Cathederal of Palermo. When the Saracens took over in the 9th century it became a mosque until the cathedral was founded around 1185 in the reign of William I.
The crypt contains tombs and sarcophagae from Roman, Byzantine, and Norman times. The oldest we noticed was from the 11th century.
The highlight was the roof.
It’s good Jim didn’t realize that the access consists of a narrow, two-way walkway on the crest of the roof.
The views are, however, spectacular.
From high above the city, we go deep beneath another neighborhood to the Capuchin Catacombs where the monks and many, many, many other people were from the 18th through the early years of the 20th centuries propped up and even posed as a celebration of death.
Not particularly our cup of tea, although our B&B hostess has taken her 3 year old daughter there a half dozen times and finds it inspiring. It was hard to relate to that. (No photos allowed, these are courtesy of the tourist brochure)
We preferred the market.
Wherever we go, they’re hard to resist.
They are full of interesting people.
And inspiring food.
Teatro Massimo was conceived as a way to promote Palermo as the second largest city in southern Italy just after the unification of Italy in 1861. It was finally completed in 1897.
With a reputation for perfect acoustics, it’s the third largest opera house in Europe (after Paris and Vienna).
We understand it’s also renowned for a dramatic death on the front steps in the third Godfather movie.
But, there’s much more about Palermo to recommend it.
From quirky fountains.
To a weekend street scene packed with people of all ages out walking and enjoying their city.
Just outside the city perched in the hills is the small town of Monreale where the Bishop of Palermo fled upon the 9th century takeover of Palermo by the Arabs. Following the Norman return of the island to Christianity, Monreale remained important and William II started construction on a cathedral in 1174 and the pope designated it as a metropolitan cathedral in 1182.
The interior is, like the Palatine Chapel, entirely decorated with exquisite mosaics, one layer featuring stories from the Old Testament and the other featuring stories from the New Testament.
The effect is dazzling.
Adjoining the cathedral is the cloisters, built in 1200 as part of the Abbey. There are 108 pairs of marble columns, each with both a unique mosaic decoration and a unique floral capital.