On Sicily | Margaret Queen of Sicily With Jacqueline Alio

On Sicily Podcast presents Margaret Queen of Sicily. At 31 years old, Margaret of Navarre was the most powerful woman in Europe and the Mediterranean, and she successfully navigated the Kingdom of Sicily from 1166 to 1171, maintaining the progressive constitutional laws her father-in-law, Roger II, had established. Yet until now, historians barely mention her.

A Tranquil Fountain

At one corner of the Cloister of the Cathedral of Monreale, there is a bubbling fountain surrounded by a few of the 228 unique columns that make up this tranquil, not-to-be-missed site. Built around 1200 AD, William II commissioned artisans from Sicily as well as those from Venice in order to create a unique sanctuary–both…