Arab-Norman Palermo

On a week-plus trip around Sicily in September of 2021, we started with a day and a half in Palermo. Ended up visiting four components of the serial site: the catedral, the royal palace, and the churches of San Cataldo and Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio. San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the other centrally located component, was on the list, but my information about its opening hours proved to be faulty - it closes at 1pm on Sundays, while I expected it to be open for another half an hour, and the gates were already locked up at 12:55.

The cathedral is clearly the most majestic site in all of Palermo, a wonderful mix of architectural styles. The interior is surprisingly relatively subdued (especially compared to the Baroque decadence of other churches found in town that are not part of the WH site - try Chiesa del Gesù, for instance). The great church is free to enter; for extra fee, you can visit the royal tombs, the treasury, and the roof terrace. I highly recommend the latter, while the other parts can be skipped. The cheapest combo ticket that includes the roof costs €7.

The royal palace is not exactly grand as far as the exterior goes, just quite big (upon returning home I realized that I did not take any reasonable shot of its façade, which suggests that it did not catch my eye as worth a shot). The royal apartments inside offer a few interesting spaces, somewhat diminished by …

Coming in from Malta, my first stop in Sicily was Palermo. I had seen some Norman architecture in Bari (T) and was wondering how Palermo would be different.

I started my day by taking a train to Cefalu. Frankly, I wasn't as smitten by the town or cathedral as previous reviewers. I have seen prettier towns in Italy. And the church and artwork, while great, are not unique for the period.

On my return from Cefalu, I got a short view from the bus window of the Admiral's Bridge. It's surrounded by large roads and loads of traffic passes by. I returned later that day to explore the bridge a bit more. Interesting, but not too stunning and more of a side note to the inscription. At this point I started wondering why the site had received so much admiration by the community.

My next stop was at San Cataldo and Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio. It was here that I grasped the uniqueness of the site. The Arabic influences with the red turrets and other architectural elements are clearly visible on San Cataldo. Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio meanwhile offers stunning Byzantine mosaics. To me, these two combined are the most representative sites for the inscription. They are listed as two separate locations, but for all intents and purposes, they are one location. Apart from ticket fees which you have to pay twice.

I then continued along the main tourist road to the Palermo Cathedral. From the outside, the …

March 2019 - day 5 of our Sicily trip. We started in Milazzo that morning and made a early lunch stop in Cefalu. Nice little town, that reminded us of Dalmatian towns. But most significant is the Cathedral with its mosaics. We visited also the local market and continued our journey to Palermo.

We arrived Saturday afternoon. Good for us, since the traffic wasnt as bad as anticipated. From the hotel we started the walk from one site to the next. Unfortunately the concept of charging 8-15€ entrance fee for each site, made it a quick round. We visited the Norman sites from outside, took some fotos and concetrated on the street food, Palermo is known for.

The red roofs of San Giovanni degli Eremiti and San Cataldo are unique for Europe and take you to 1001 night tales. However they are empty inside, so why do they charge so much entrance? The Cathedral looks promising and reminded us of Andalusia, but from inside, a boring baroque church. zje Royal Palace we could only see from outside, it looks a bit deplaced between all the traffic.

Next morning we visited Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio. That was realy magnificent. The mosaics, the painted stard, all the gold. Its like a fairy tale. Just wonderful. The rest of the city is not realy inviting. Many dirty streets, no sights, but a lot of history, very interesting people, and the amrkets are an exceptional experience. I had Pane con la Milza …

This is one of my favorite WHS in Italy. The reign of Norman kings and their heirs, Hohenstaufen such as Frederick II, is the heyday era of Sicilly and antient Calabria and Apulia from 11th to 13th century, and one can see its testimony even nowadays. The great examples are the romanesque cathedrals and castles in Apulia (TWHS + WHS), and Arab-Norman monuments in Palermo, Monreale and Cefalu (WHS). While the Apulian cathedrals show strong Norman, Lombard, and Tuscany impact with a touch of Byzantine style, the Sicilian treasures are incredible blends of Norman, Byzantine and Arab styles.

There are around 22 Arab-Norman monuments in/around Palermo that survived from midle ages. Only 9 of them have been selected as WHS, and I must admit that it is a well-balanced selection. All sites can be quite easily visited in two-three days: The sites in Palermo are in walking distance, although Admiral`s Bridge and Zisa Palace are located a little bit off the historic center. Monreale and Cefalu are accessible by public transport, Monreale by AMAT bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza and Cefalu by train.

(1) Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel: I visited this site on Thursday, so, I could see only Palatine Chapel in the second floor of the Palace. The third floor with the Room of King Roger and the Wind Tower is open for public only from Friday to Sunday because of sessions of the local parliament. Even though the Palatine Chapel is a unique blend of …

We recently drove around the island of Sicily for a week. We weren’t specifically in search of World Heritage Sites, but stumbled on the most incredible cathedral in the town of Cefalú and it changed the way we thought about the trip. By the time we got to Palermo, we were blown away by the beautiful and intricate cathedrals of this Italian island.

Along the northern coast of Sicily, remarkable cathedrals bear testament to the mix of cultures, ethnicities, and religions that have moved through the country at varying times. These sites show the influence of Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and Byzantine/Orthodox influences with a trace of Venetian/French flair thrown in for good measure. The cultural influence is more than just on architecture, it is on the cultural traditions that surround these sites.

The cathedrals are located in the heart of their respective cities, so they are very easy to visit. The only one that was a challenge was Monreale because of the limited parking in this mountainside town. It’s easiest to reach by bus from Palermo or parking in the small lot below the cathedral.

We visited:

• The Cathedral of Cefalú
• The Cathedral of Monreale
• The Cathedral of Palermo
• The Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti

If you find yourself in Sicily, we would recommend you visit the Arab-Norman Cathedrals. We’ve visited UNESCO sites on our travels before, but these cathedrals have been some of our favorites.

Palermo is a fascinating place. Despite being the capital of Sicily, it was the last major city we visited on the island and for the first time in months it felt like we'd almost left Europe (and in many ways, we had!). The heat, the noise, the chaos - it sort of felt like we'd been transported across the Med to Cairo or Tunis. And then you see the buildings with their enormous mix of styles - Arabic, Norman, Byzantine, and later Italian as well. We had a fantastic day wandering around checking out the various sights, and were particularly impressed by the mosaics in the palace. I'm a huge fan of mosaic art and this was extremely impressive. 

I visited all the sites in this soon-to-be inscribed WHS in May 2015. Palermo itself has 7 sites. Most have been restored and cleaned up prior to this year's WH Conference. The main landmark in Palermo and the most beautiful site for its exterior is Palermo's Cathedral. The sheer size and sculpted details on the facade, towers and rear side of the cathedral are worth a trip to Palermo alone. Yet the jewel of Palermo is the Palatine Chapel and the royal apartments with their marvelous "golden" mosaics. It is always pretty crowded and there are no chairs to sit down and stay in awe. The presbitery treasures are also of outstanding beauty as are the royal rooms housed in the Norman Palace. Another Norman palace and the third site I visited was the Zisa Palace famous for the quadri-lingual stonepiece. Just outside of the Royal Palace and the Palatine Chapel is another stonepiece but it's tri-lingual and without mosaics. After the Zisa Palace, which is quite distant from the city centre proper, is the Admiral's bridge now standing in a rather shabby urban part of Palermo but nonetheless its condition is very good. The other three sites of Palermo which are mentioned in the very detailed nomination file and worth viewing are the Church of San Cataldo (with its 3 red domes, the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio just next to it with its minaret like bell tower and its intricate Byzantine mosaics (I visited at 08:30 and attended …

According to recent news flashes, “Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù’ and Monreale” will become a WHS this July after receiving a positive ICOMOS evaluation. This Italian site is a serial nomination with 9 components, spread out over 3 towns/cities on the island of Sicily. The monuments date from the period of Norman domination (1061-1194), when a multi-ethnic culture developed integrating Latin, Byzantine and Islamic elements.

On my trip to Sicily in 2006, I visited two of the subsites: the cathedrals of Monreale and Cefalù. When I look at the photos of Palermo in the nomination dossier, I regret that I opted out of going there. At the time I thought it would be too much hassle to drive my car into that city. Palermo actually is the main carrier of this nomination. It holds 7 component parts including the Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel, which is rated “worth a journey” by the Michelin Green Guide Sicily.

I have to rely on my trip notes from my visit to this corner of Sicily, as I don’t recall very much. I stayed overnight in the town of Cefalù, located on the northern coast not far from Palermo. Cefalù is dominated by a gigantic rock, against which the houses seem to be plastered. The streets are narrow and the cathedral is huge.

Monreale is just a short drive away. This cathedral with Arab, Byzantine and Norman influences attracts numerous visitors from afar – it’s one of the …