Page 101 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Palazzo dei Normanni

Royal Apartments Mon, Fri & Sat 8.15am–5.40pm, last entry at 5pm, Sun & hols 8.15am–1pm, last entry at
12.15pm • Cappella Palatina Mon–Sat 8.15am–5.40pm, last entry at 5pm, Sun & hols 8.15am–9.45am &
11.15am–1pm, last entry at 12.15pm • Check the website before visiting, as parliamentary sessions often disrupt the
usual opening hours • Royal Apartments and Cappella Palatina €8.50, Cappella Palatina only €7 •
federicosecondo.org

A royal palace has always occupied the high ground above medieval Palermo, and the

vast length of the Palazzo dei Normanni, or Palazzo Reale, still dominates the
western edge of the old town. Originally built by the Saracens in the ninth century, the
palace was enlarged considerably by the Normans, under whom it housed the most
magnificent of medieval European courts. The long front was added by the Spanish in
the seventeenth century, and most of the interior is now taken up by the Sicilian
regional parliament (hence the security guards and limited access).

Visitors can tour the Royal Apartments, whose showpiece is the Sala di Ruggero,
one of the earliest parts of the palace and richly covered with twelfth-century mosaics
of hunting scenes. Other rooms, such as the Sala del Duca di Montalto, are used for
occasional exhibitions. The highlight of the entire palace, however – and the
undisputed artistic gem of central Palermo – is the beautiful Cappella Palatina, the
private royal chapel of Roger II, built between 1132 and 1143. Its intimate interior is

immediately overwhelming, with cupola, three apses and nave entirely covered in
mosaics of outstanding quality. The oldest are those in the cupola and apses, probably
completed in 1150 by Byzantine artists; those in the nave are from the hands of local
craftsmen, finished twenty-odd years later and depicting Old and New Testament
scenes. The colours are vivid and, as at Monreale and Cefalù, it’s the powerful

representation of Christ as Pantocrator that dominates the senses, bolstered here by
other secondary images – Christ blessing, open book in hand, and Christ enthroned,
between Peter (to whom the chapel is dedicated) and Paul. The chapel also has a
delightful Arabic ceiling with richly carved wooden stalactites, a patterned marble
floor and an impressive marble Norman candlestick (by the pulpit), 4m high and
contorted by manic carvings.