Do you love art and you would like to spend a unique day in Palermo?
It’s time to visit the Palatine Chapel. It is located in the Norman Palace (also known as the Royal Palace), the oldest royal house of Europe that today is also the headquarters of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The Palatine Chapel was named 2015 UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the path of Arabic-Norman Palermo, along with the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale. It was dedicated to St. Peter the apostle and built as a place of worship for the royal family.
The building of the Norman-Byzantine basilica goes back to year 1117. But only in 1129 did the construction of it actually begin, ordered bt King Ruggero II of Sicily. Its building was completed in 1143, when it was inaugurated. Already by 1458 some repairs were needed, like the roof. The last repairs were done in 2008, due to the damage from the earthquake in 2002.
The chapel is divided in 3 naves, separated by granite and marble columns with composite capitals, which support 5 ogival strings for every side. The chapel is one of the best preserved Medieval monuments because there are different styles that coexist: the marble decoration in opus sectile, marble inlay of the floors and walls, the Byzantine mosaics of the presbytery on the aisles, and the Islamic paintings of the muqarnas (decorative technique aka “honeycomb”). The mosaics represent biblical figures, geometric shapes, animals and dancers.
The dominant figure is Christ Pantocrator, present in the cupola in the act of blessing, with the 3 fingers up. Christ’s clothes remind us of the ceremonial clothes of Byzantine people.
To buy tickets to visit this chapel and get visitor info, including opening times, dates, and the price for the tickets, click here: https://www.federicosecondo.org/costo-biglietto/