Tuesday, September 12, 2023; Palermo
Restored after a good night’s sleep, we had a nice breakfast at a little bar across the street from the Palazzo.
Our plan for the day included the great Norman Palace and Cathedral and a few other things that we would pass on the way. Google Maps led us through some of the less salubrious streets of Palermo, but we were soon standing in front of one of the more memorable churches of our lifetime. The little Norman church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (Saint John of the Hermits) was originally a Benedictine Monastery from the sixth century; the Arabs destroyed it and built a mosque in its place; Roger II, the first Norman king (his father Roger I was a count) reestablished the monastery, building it on top of the Arab mosque.
The church sits in a ravishingly beautiful garden with palms, roses, jasmine, acanthus, and pomegranates; paths wind through the garden and only then to the church.
The photo shows the campanile and three of the weathered red domes that dominate the church. Built in 1140, it is now deconsecrated, but retains a remarkable, almost mystical atmosphere.
The original cloister has been beautifully preserved; it was designed around a gorgeous Arab well.
Just around the corner from San Giovanni is the enormous Norman Palace–the secular center of ancient Palermo.
Roger II built the Palace on the site of the Arab fortress that dominated the city; the more or less rectangular building had fortified towers at all four corners, though only one remains today. During the reign of Frederick II, “Stupor Mundi,” the palace was enlarged and, after Frederick was named Holy Roman Emperor, became a center for writers, artists, and scientists from throughout Europe. After the demise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty the palace fell into decay and was revived only by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century.
The main internal courtyard with its three-storied loggia was built around 1600 by the Spanish Viceroy Maqueda. From here rises the grand staircase built for Charles ill’s visit in 1736. But the glory of the palace is Roger’s Palatine Chapel.
Only superlatives suffice for this remarkable little space (it is only 32 meters long): Maupassant called it “the most surprising religious jewel to be dreamed by the human mind.” Upon entering, one is immersed in a shimmering golden light reflected from the mosaics that cover every inch of the chapel.
Although the entire chapel is extraordinary, the apse, with its dominating image of Christ Pancrator with his all-seeing eyes, is riveting. The mosaics here, at the east end, are believed to be the work of Byzantine artisans; they are dated 1143.
We thought that Viv and Ingrid would have been fascinated by these great works of art!
The mosaics in the nave are a bit later, from the reign of William II (1154-66).
The mosaics at the west end are later still, from the fifteenth century.
Just as extraordinary is the ceiling, certainly the work of Fatimid craftsmen–also dated 1143. The ceiling is contoured, divided by muqarnas–stalactite-like formations–made of painted wood imported from Lebanon. If you enlarge the image below, you can just make out some of the extraordinary detail: musicians and dancing girls, banquets at court with servants pouring wine for the guests, warriors and hunters, picnics under the trees. Not a saint or angel to be seen–thought halos were later added to some figures in an attempt to refigure the images as the Christian paradise.
After seeing the chapel, Oscar Wilde wrote to a friend that “One really feels as if one was sitting at the heart of a great honeycomb looking at angels singing.” And he had it just about right.
Before leaving the palace grounds, we took a turn through the royal gardens. Lush and verdant despite the aridity, the gardens are dominated by enormous ficus trees with air roots standing as much as fifteen feet tall.
Although the weather has been generally very pleasant–in the low ’80’s with low humidity–it is hot in the churches and chapels, and we now needed a break. Which we found on the main Corso at the restaurant Enomi. Patti and I had the same delicious pasta with a shrimp sauce (I gilded the lily with langoustines on top), Sue had sardines rolled around an anchovy / mint / orange stuffing), and David spaghetti con Vongole. We had picked the place at random, but it was very good indeed.
Although we were pretty full, we had unfortunately learned that a Gelateria reputed to have some of the best ice cream in Italy was virtually next door. And the nocciolo / pistachio cups we shared lived up to the rep.
Refreshed and restored, we made our way back up the Corso to the Duomo.
The pleasant-looking park in front of the cathedral was the scene of the horrible auto da fe’s or “Spectacles of Faith” of the inquisition, which was particularly severe in Palermo. The original structure dates from 1169-1190. Over the centuries, the cathedral itself has been altered in a way that makes it a bit of a hodgepodge.
The cathedral itself was built by the Archbishop of Palermo, William Offamiglio as an expression of his power within the kingdom. The cathedral of Monreale, which we will visit tomorrow, was King William II’s answer to this threat to royal power.
The interior was redone in the late eighteenth century by Ferdinando Fuga in an anodyne style between baroque and classical. The stark white walls and relative paucity of ornamentation do not make for an imposing interior. It does contain a remarkable collection of dead bodies in the Royal Chapel.
Frederick II, “Stupor mundi,” lies in a huge sarcophagus (along, oddly, with the mortal remains of Peter II of Aragon and a third, unidentified person). Alongside him is the sarcophagus of his father, Henry VI.
Behind the two Holy Roman Emperors lie the tombs of Roger II and his daughter Constance de Hauteville, wife of Henry VI and mother of Frederick II.
After a brief circumlocution of the cathedral, we climbed up onto its roof, at first through a modern, rather narrow square structure, but then through an ancient, twisting circular tower. This is not an activity for the claustrophobic! Emerging on top we got a tremendous view over all of Palermo, into the surrounding mountains, and out to sea. Here’s the crew on the way up.
And at the top.
It had already been a long day, but…with so many churches and so little time, we soldiered on.
Next stop was the symbolic center of Palermo, the Quattro Canti. Two of the main streets, the Corso and Via Maqueda, meet here, and the space is marked by four palaces, each standing at an angle to the small Piazza in between.
This area of the city is full of interest. Just behind the four corners, sits a peculiar sight, an enormous Tuscan mannerist fountain. Originally intended for a Tuscan Villa, the fountain was designed by Francesco Camilliani, and later (1573) assembled and enlarged here by his son Camillo and Michelangelo Naccherino. Although there are various stories about the fate of the fountain in Palermo, in all versions the Renaissance nudes were too much for local piety, and they have been repeatedly defaced over the years.
One side of the Piazza in which the fountain sits is taken up by the gorgeous baroque church of Santa Catarina.
We weren’t at all prepared for the interior. In the German speaking countries, vast number of churches were redone in Baroque style, which generally meant removing Gothic and Renaissance elements, slapping some white paint on the walls, and covering anything that stuck out with gold. Santa Caterina, on the other hand, is ablaze with marmi mischi, polychrome marbles, with rich decorations in stucco.
After viewing Santa Caterina and a couple of other Baroque churches in Palermo, we gained a new respect for the form–after this delirium, most other ornamentation seems mundane.
The effect, even for someone who prefers the simplicity of the Gothic or Classical, is mesmerizing.
Across Piazza Bellini from Santa Catarina sit, elevated on the remains of the old Roman walls, two Norman churches, San Cataldo and Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, known as the “Martorana.”
Despite our best efforts on two different days, we were unable to visit the Martorana, which has extremely limited hours. San Cataldo, on the other hand, was one of the highlights even of a day so full of extraordinary experiences.
It was founded by Maio of Bari, William I’s chancellor, but because of his murder in 1160 the interior was never decorated. The simple plan of the interior has three aisles ending in apses and three domes high up above the central aisle.
The beautiful old capitals are all different. The original mosaic floor and lattice windows survive.
And the ceiling, with its three domes, is amazing.
Today the church belongs to the Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, whose coat of arms illuminates the central apse window.
We were running out of gas–that was a lot of churches, even for me!–but David was eager to see one more oratorio furnished with remarkable stuccos by Giacamo Serpotta. So we returned to our neighborhood, passing by San Francesco d’Assisi with its beautiful facade from 1302.
In the Piazza San Francesco we found the well-known Antica Focacceria San Francesco; can’t eat everywhere, though!
Just steps away is the late 16th century Oratorio di San Lorenzo, designed by Giacomo Amato. The chapel is decorated with stuccoes illustrating the lives of St Lawrence and St Francis, a master work by Giacomo Serpotta (1699–1707). Ten symbolic statues, eight vivacious little reliefs, and the Martyrdom of St Lawrence situated above the door, the whole encircled by a throng of plump cherubs, make up a well-balanced and animated composition.
The Oratorio is unfortunately as famous for a crime as for its beauty. The . altarpiece of the Nativity, by Caravaggio (1609; his last known work, painted for this church), was stolen in 1969 and has never been recovered. It has been replaced by a digital copy.
We retreated, late in the day, to the apartment for a drink and lots of discussion of what we had seen. And then it was off to dinner, mercifully just five minutes away, at the wonderful seafood restaurant Quattro Mani. I started with swordfish carpaccio with a pool of salted watermelon in the center; David with marinated Amberjack salad; Patti with eggplant polpetti, and Sue with octopus salad. Sue and I both had squid ink spaghetti; Patti had seared red tuna, and David Swordfish alla Trapanese. We drank an utterly delicious Etna Bianco from Passopisciaro.