Palermo Cathedral
Cathedral of Palermo , in Arab-Norman style, has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by Unesco-
The immense religious building, consecrated to the Virgin of the Assumption, was built in 1170, to at the behest of the archbishop of Palermo Gualtiero Offamilio, following the earthquake of 1169 which had seriously damaged the existing building. It stands on the site previously occupied by a Christian basilica transformed by the Saracens, in 831, into a mosque and subsequently converted to Christian worship by the Normans in 1072.
The Cathedral of Palermo, since its construction, had functions of worship, of fortress and a funerary temple reserved for kings, their families and archbishops. In fact, two symmetrical spaces on the sides of the choir were reserved for this purpose.
Over the centuries the building has undergone alterations, restorations, additions and modifications.
The precious portico of the southern facade dates back to the first half of the 15th century presents the stylistic features typical of Catalan architecture in flowery Gothic. The portico has three ogival arches, Arabic in shape, flanked by two lateral towers surmounted by a large tympanum with a decorative band of sculptural elements depicting moving animals, plant and anthropomorphic figures. Under the portico, there are bas-reliefs of great historical interest, which celebrate the coronation of Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy and that of Charles III of Bourbon, both of which took place inside the Cathedral.
In 1466, Archbishop Nicola Puxades enriched the cathedral of a very precious wooden choir carved made of 78 sumptuous choral stalls, in Catalan Gothic style.
In the 16th century the main apse was decorated with a large marble gallery , made by Antonello Gagini, which contained 47 statues of saints and was dominated by the figure of the Eternal Father among a glory of angels. The work, which required more than half a century of work, was destroyed during the renovation of the Cathedral in the second half of the 18th century. On this occasion many of the statues that made up the marble tribune were placed outside to crown the external walls. At the end of the last war, the statues were brought back inside and placed against the pillars of the main nave.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the interiors of the building were totally reconfigured: the groups of tetrastyle columns were dismembered and replaced with a sequence of large pillars interspersed with round arches of the most severe neoclassical conception, the choir was extended to the main apse, the transept was rebuilt and a solemn neoclassical dome was erected which diverges with the style previous of the church.The original external decoration was partly hidden. The eastern façade is the one that best preserves the original 12th century decoration: a decoration with intertwining blind arches, in lava inlay, with geometric motifs that intersect giving life to the double arched design. Similar ornamental motifs are also present in the apses of the Cathedral of Monreale.
Many works of art are preserved in the Cathedral: in the chapel of the Sacrament it is kept a precious seventeenth-century ciborium in lapis lazuli, in the altar of the Crucifix an ancient simulacrum of Christ is venerated, a gift by Manfredi Chiaramonte in the fourteenth century, the holy water stoups in the central nave, works by Domenico Gagini and Giuseppe Spatafora. We also find the chapel of Santa Rosalia which preserves the relics of the Patron Saint enclosed in a precious silver urn, a valuable work by skilled Sicilian artists of the seventeenth century based on a design by Mariano Smiriglio.
Inside the cathedral there are also the remains of the royalty of Sicily, including Frederick II and Roger II. Other tombs are present in the crypt dating back to the sixth century. In the treasury rooms it is possible to admire the gold tiara of Queen Constance of Aragon, along with other precious objects found in the royal tombs.
