Agrigento - Cattedrale di San Gerlando

Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, has a long history, that starts around 8000 BC, but later there were Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman periods. After the Roman Empire had fallen apart the Vandals tried to take over the island but failed. Finally, the Ostrogoths took possession.

Mid of the 6th century Sicily was conquered by troops of the Byzantine Empire. After the advent of Islam, Sicily got attacked by the Arab forces. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century.

A Muslim army was sent to the island in 827 but met with much resistance. So it took a century to conquer it and even later revolts constantly occurred

In 1038 the Byzantines invaded the island supported by Norman mercenaries, led by Roger. In 1072, after the siege of Palermo, most of Sicily was under Norman control. Roger´s son Roger II raised the status +of the island to a kingdom in 1130. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and powerful,

The court of Roger II became melting out of culture from Europe and the Middle East. This attracted scholars, scientists, artists, and artisans. Muslims, Jews, Greeks, Lombards, and Normans cooperated and created some extraordinary buildings.

In 1186 the last descendant of Roger, Constance of Sicily married Emperor Henry VI, the second son of Barbarossa. So the crown of Sicily was passed on to the Hohenstaufen Dynasty. Frederick II, the only son of Constance, was crowned King of Sicily at the age of four in 1198. He became "Stupor Mundi", one of the greatest and most cultured men of the Middle Ages.

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Soon after Agrigento (named Gergent or Girgenti at that time) had been conquered by the Normans, Roger II. founded a bishopric seat here. The Normans erected a castle to control the area and started to erect a cathedral on the top of the highest place in 1087. The church was completed already in 1094. The cathedral got fortified by a tower in the first half of the 12th century. The place was unstable and in 1198 a landslide caused a lot of destruction. It got reconstructed and used by Frederick II as a garrison against Saracen rebels. Due to earthquakes, the church collapsed and had to be rebuilt. Following the reconstruction carried out, it got dedicated to San Gerlando in 1315.

Restauration of the church started end of the 19th century and took many decades. A landslide in 1966 threatened the building and so the ridge on which it was erected had to be consolidated and enforced. The church was closed to the public in 2011 but got reopened again in 2019.

Details of the painted wooden ceiling.