Honeymoon Sicily | Palermo Cathedral
The Cathedral of Palermo is an architectural complex in Palermo Sicily, southern Italy.
It is characterised by the presence of different styles due to a long history of additions,
alterations and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th century
The church was erected in 1185 by Walter Ophamil (or Walter of the Mill), the Anglo-Norman archbishop of Palermo
and King William II's minister, on the area of an earlier Byzantine Basilica. By all accounts
this earlier church was founded by St. Gregory and was later turned into a mosque by the Saracens after their
conquest of the city in the 9th century. Ophamil is buried in a sarcophagus in the church's crypt. The medieval
edifice had a basilica plan with three apses of which only some minor architectural elements survive today
The upper orders of the corner towers were built between the 14th and the 15th centuries, while in
the early Renaissance period the southern porch was added. The present neoclassical
appearance dates from the work carried out over the two decades 1781 to 1801, and supervised
by Ferdinando Fuga. During this period the great retable by Gagini,
decorated with statues, friezes and reliefs, was destroyed and the sculptures moved to different parts of the basilica
The main façade is on the Western side on the current Via Bonello and has the appearance
set in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is flanked by two towers and has a Gothic portal
surmounted by a niche with a precious 15th century Madonna. Two linteled ogival arcades
stepping over the street connect the facade to the bell tower in the front which annexed to
the Archbishops Palace. This has a squared appearance adorned in the upper part
by a fine crown of smaller belfries and small arcades
The right side has outstretching turrets and a wide portico (the current entrance)
in Gothic-Catalan style, with three arcades, erected around 1465 and opening to the square. The first
column on the left belonged to the original basilica and the subsequent mosque, as testified by
the Qur'an verse carved on it. The carved portal of this entrance was executed in
the period 1426 to 1430 by Antonio Gambara while the magnificent wooden leafs are by Francesco
Miranda (1432).
The mosaic portraying the Madonna is from the 13th century, while the two monuments
on the walls, works of the early 18th century, represents King Charles III of
Bourbon and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, the latter of which was crowned here with his
wife Anne Marie d'Orléans in December 1713
The area of the apse, enclosed by the turrets and grandly decorated on the external
walls is part of the original 12th century building, while the more modern part of
the church is on the left side, which has an early 16th century portal by Antonello Gagini.
The south western facade looking at the Archbishop Palace dates from
the 14th to 15th centuries.
The interior has a Latin cross plan with a nave and two aisles divided by pilasters
In the first two chapels of the right aisle are the tomb of emperors and royal
figures moved here in the 18th century from their original sites (mostly
from the basilica itself). Here are the remains of Emperor Henry VI, his son Frederick II,
as well as those of Peter II of Sicily. A Roman sarcophagus/ is the tomb of Constance of Aragon,
Frederick's wife. Under the mosaic baldachins are the tombs of Roger II, the first King of Sicily,
and his daughter Constance. The last two were once located in the transept of the Cathedral
of Cefalu.
The famous portico by Domenico and Antonello Gagini.
The Sacrament chapel, at the end of the left aisles, is decorated with
precious stones and lapislazuli. To the right, in the presbytery, is the chapel of
Saint Rosalia, patron of Palermo, closed by a richly ornamental bronze gate,
with relics and a 17th century silver urn which is an object of particular devotion.
The Cathedral Treasury contains goblets, vestments, monstrance’s, a 14th century breviary
and the famous Crown of Constance of Sicily, a golden tiara found in her tomb in 1491