'Palermo is like nowhere else in Europe. Defying the mafia in a maze of crumbling grandeur, it is at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. Every neighbouring power has occupied Sicily at some time, which has created a sizzling mix of Arabic food, Spanish streets, Norman towers and Italian neglect.
The old town is full of baroque palaces, their facades rich with statues, above streets strewn with litter. Families live on their doorsteps like a scene from a 1950s film. Some streets are still being rebuilt after being bombed by the allies in the second world war. This is Italy in the raw.' (The Guardian)
We began with the opera house. In a fit of nationalistic ambition during the unification of Italy (1861-71), Palermo opened the Teatro Massimo, Europe’s third-largest opera house. Built like a gigantic Roman temple, it looms over Piazza Verdi and the strolling crowds. Acclaimed tenor Caruso sang here in his twenties and it still attracts major stars.
These are the steps on which the climax of The Godfather III was filmed. In the movie an assassination attempt is made on Don Michael Corleone on the steps of the Teatro Massimo opera house. As people are leaving the evening performance a bullet grazes Michael but fatally strikes his daughter Mary Corelone.
A grand palazzo in Piazza Verdi facing the opera house.
The Quattro Canti comprises four concave, inward-facing, early 17th century buildings, one at each corner of the square. Their façades are arranged in three distinct tiers: at ground level is a fountain representing Palermo's four rivers, topped by a representation of a season - autumn to the north, winter to the east, spring to the south and summer to the west; the second tier features a Spanish king - Philip IV, Philip III, Charles V and Philip II; the third level, meanwhile, is dedicated to one of Palermo's patron saints - Sant'Oliva, Sant'Agata, Santa Christina and Santa Ninfa.
The piazza is also called Il Teatro del Sole - the Theatre of the Sun - because at any time of day, one of the four façades is illuminated by the sun.
An internal courtyard - so like those in Barcelona - so Arabic.
The exterior of the huge Palermo Cathedral is really more impressive than the interior, especially if you’ve already seen some of the other churches and monuments.
Inside are tombs of the emperors and Sicilian kings. The cathedral is built on the site of a 4th century Basilica, rebuilt in the 6th century, transformed into a mosque, and then returned to the Christians in 1072. The Cathedral is part of Palermo's Arab-Norman UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1536, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V came to the Kingdom of Sicily and crossed the arched entrance to Palermo after capturing Tunis from the Ottoman Empire. In celebration of the event, the City Senate decreed the city gate be rebuilt in a more elaborate form befitting the victorious visit. This is Porta Nuova - the New Gate.
Piazza Bellini is home to one of Palermo’s most fascinating churches - the Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, commonly known as La Martorana.
La Martorana was commissioned in 1143 by George of Antioch, the Syrian-born Admiral of King Roger II's fleet and until the 13th century the church was Greek-Byzantine Orthodox. Parts of the structure were adapted during the 17th century and large sections of the original gleaming mosaics were removed to make way for more banal baroque frescoes. Last but not least is the wonderful bell tower that rises above the main entrance, a pure expression of Norman architecture with a hint of Arabic twist.
La Martorana is part of Palermo's Arab-Norman UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The polizia are going electric - this is their "flying squad".... truly, it says so on the bonnet.
A large and luxurious Ape for the tourists.
We took a very crowded and very slow local bus up the mountain to the Cathedral of Monreale.
The cathedral’s façade gives little clue as to the splendour to be found within. A geometrically patterned marble floor, in-laid with mosaics, supports two lines of granite Corinthian columns that delineate the wide, lofty, wooden ceilings above the nave.
Arches leap from column to column drawing the eye to the window-punctured clerestory and its astonishing display of art: over 6,500m2 of swirling golden mosaics animated by biblical scenes and depictions of saints, kings and angels, all interspersed with gilded motifs and sumptuous decorative patterns.
Wave after wave of this dazzling beauty culminates at the east end, in the triple-apsed choir, surveyed from on high by a colossal representation of Christ Pantocrator.
Two tombs: King William I (The Bad) who died in 1166 and King William II (The Good) who died in 1189. No prizes for guessing which is which.
Giovanni Roano became Bishop of Monreale in 1659. He was a grand patron of the arts and added additional alters to the cathedral. He was Spanish and loved colour; he also loved marble and added this elaborate wardrobe to the church - entirely lined in coloured marble.
Outside the Cathedral, adjoining its south side, is another masterpiece: the cloisters. Built in 1200 as part of the Cathedral abbey, the cloisters comprise 108 pairs of marble columns, a covered arcade of Arabic arches and a central quad. Every other pair of columns is decorated with unique mosaic patterns (no two are the same) and each is topped by a floral capital.
The overall effect is one of not quite perfect symmetry, but absolute perfection. The real beauty of it all, however, lies in the fact that although you know you're strolling around the cloisters of a European church, you could equally be relaxing in the internal garden of a rich man’s house in the Damascus or Cairo of yesteryear.
Traversing the passageways on the cathedral's roof, I couldn't help thinking about the fire that took the roof of the cathedral in "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. One of the best books ever.
From the roof top there is a great view of Palermo, snuggled on its bay and hemmed in by great scraggy rocks on three sides. Home to 667,000 people, the fifth largest city in Italy after Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin.
Monreale's piazza and the cathedral forecourt.
Thanks to The Thinking Traveller blog for help with descriptions - https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com
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