SICILY: PALERMO'S ROYAL PALACE AND PALATINE CHAPEL

 March 17, 2024

We set off for Palermo around 9:00 AM in our very cramped VW Golf. 

It was supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive, but we put the wrong destination in our phone's maps app, and we ended up off track. We lost about 40 minutes, but we still made it on time to our first destination of the day, the Royal Palace of Palermo, where we had timed-entry tickets to the Palatine Chapel.

The Palatine Chapel is inside the Royal Palace (aka Norman Palace of Palermo), which was the home of the Sicilian kings and/or seat of the government until 1946. Since then it has been the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. It is the oldest royal residence in all of Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace dates back to the 9th century, although it had a major makeover in the 12th century. The oldest part of the current structure is on the right end, below.

Roger II of Sicily, also known as Roger the Norman, was the first king of Sicily from 1130 until 1154 and is considered the founder of the Kingdom of Sicily, unifying the Norman conquests in southern Italy, Sicily, and Malta under his rule. He was known for practicing tolerance for the variety of ethnicities and cultures that lived in his realm. An interesting fact about Roger II: He married three times and had nine legitimate children and at least five known illegitimate children.

One of his longest-lasting accomplishments was the building of a spectacular chapel inside the above palace. It was the primary reason we were hurrying to Palermo. 

The Palatine Chapel (or Cappella Palatina in Italian) is perhaps the most beautiful single room I have entered anywhere in the world. Commissioned by Roger II in 1132, it took eight years to build and is a unique blend of Norman, Byzantine, classical, and Arab architecture. 

The door to the inside of the chapel is rather inconspicuous compared to the ornate colonnade that surrounds the inner courtyard of the palace. 

The wooden beams of the ceiling, brick arches, and Corinthian columns are beautiful, but what really distinguishes the entrance and the interior are the mosaics.

The lower walls are covered with near-perfect mosaic patterns. There are dozens of iterations.

But the luminous gold-leafed mosaics immediately draw the visitors' eyes heavenward. There are layers upon layers of mosaics. Here you can see the arch, the frame and the scene--three different layers with different subjects.

A close-up of the scene above reveals it to be a nativity. Joseph, lower left, looks tired. The three wisemen, upper left, are on their way. A cow and a horse look at the babe, establishing the setting as a stable.

The Byzantine-style Christ Pantocrator icon is everywhere, always holding up his right hand in blessing and in his left hand holding a book.

Illustrations of Biblical stories are tucked into every possible spot throughout the chapel. 

No space is wasted.

This alcove shows the Islamic tile designs, the Byzantine Christ Pantocrator, and the Islamic muqarnas ceiling.

A close-up of the ceiling shows that it too is layer upon layer, giving the appearance of an inverted honeycomb.

Even the columns are embellished with different figurative styles.

The detail in the Biblical stories is astounding.  Here is the Creation:

God giving Adam the "breath of life""

The creation of Eve:

The commandment not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life:

Temptation by the serpent and expulsion from the Garden:

Cain and Abel: 

Jacob and Esau: 

Jacob's Ladder: 

Noah's Ark:

The Tower of Babel:

Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac:

Just to give you an idea of how many mosaics there are (I've only chosen a few to include here), look at the layering in the photo below.  There are saints/stories on the lower wall between the windows. There are saints and popes on the columns and under the keystone of the arch. There are Bible stories over the arches. There are stories between the upper windows.

And those are only Old Testament stories. There are illustrations from the New Testament as well. This wall, for example depicts key events in the life of Jesus, including Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem (top row, right), the baptism and transfiguration of Jesus (middle row), and the Triumphal Entry (lower row):

My mother used to say that some churches are built for God, and some are built for power (or to show power). I'm not sure which of those this chapel is--maybe both? Maybe also a show of wealth?

On our way out, I noticed this much more contemporary painting of the nativity on a wall near the door. Mary looks weirdly tiny among the four large men and the angel.

When they finally kicked us out of the Chapel (they let us stay 20 minutes past the closing time), we quickly went upstairs to to try see some of the rooms in the Royal Palace . . . 

. . . but they were also closing the rest of the palace and were trying to sweep us out with the other guests.  However, we did catch quick looks at a few rooms and art pieces.

I believe this is Archimedes (born around 287 BC) on the left, a mathematician, engineer, physicist, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily.  On the right is a coat of arms.

The Hall of Hercules is named for frescoes not seen here that depict Hercules. It has been updated for modern use by the government.

Part of the residential quarters:

Cinderella's carriage? A model car made from a kit?

We caught a view of the courtyard, and we couldn't quite figure out what the white blob in the center was.

When we got to ground level, we saw that it was an art exhibition by Italian artist Jacopo Cardillo (aka JAGO) entitled "Look Down." This human fetus is made of white marble.

After our eviction from the palace, we walked to the Palermo Cathedral, only to discover it was closed for the next two hours.

We took solace in some gelato . . .

Then decided to drive to Monreale to see the cathedral there, followed by a return to Palermo to see the cathedral.