I received a message from someone today who wants to propose to his girlfriend in Palermo or Cefalù. I thought about where I would suggest, and after deciding that the top of La Rocca in Cefalù would be too much of a hike and Palermo center may be a bit too chaotic, my thoughts went…
Tag: cloisters
Covering Up At Monreale Cathedral
The 228 magnificent columns of the cloister of Montreale Cathedral outside of Palermo each tell a story. Illustrated here are Adam and Eve.
Magnificent Monreale Cathedral, Sicily
The cloisters of Sicily’s Monreale Cathedral were built in the Arab Norman style in the early 13th century by Venetian artisans. Part of the Palermo area UNESCO site that features nine Arab Norman monuments, the cloister boasts 128 columns, all possessing different mosaic designs and many with capitols that illustrate biblical stories and episodes in…
The Cloisters Of Monreale
Norman King William II, “The Good” (1153-1189), commissioned Monreale Cathedral in the late 12th century. The cloisters were built in the Arab Norman style in the early 13th century by Venetian artisans. Today, the cathedral is part of the UNESCO site that features nine Arab Norman monuments. Its cloister boasts 128 columns, all possessing different…
Uncovering The Hidden Corners In Palermo
Live from Sicily! One of my favorite things is hearing the awe and wonder in my guests’ reactions once they see Monreale Cathedral Nad its cloister (pictured). You must see it! Palermo has so many hidden corners, like the Church of the Immaculate Conception, for example, that are not easily explored without a guide. Our…
Conservationists at Work
Conservationists photographed while working in the cloisters of the Cathedral at Monreale. Each of the 228 columns of the cloister are unique, and their restoration requires painstaking detail in order to maintain the integrity of the designs from the early 1200s when the peaceful, square colonnade was constructed.
Palermo’s San Giovanni degli Eremiti
The cloister and red domes of Palermo’s San Giovanni degli Eremiti were built by Arab-Norman craftsmen and laborers in 1132 under that command of King Roger II. Its flowering gardens, reminiscent of what one might have encountered in ancient cities along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, are a sanctuary in the midst of the city’s…
Monreale’s Mosaic Designs
Each of the 228 columns of the cloisters of the Cathedral of Monreale has a unique mosaic design. Built around 1200 and commissioned by Norman King William II, these architectural gems possess design elements from Sicily’s Arab, Jewish, Byzantine, and Greek and Roman past.