Street Leading to the Apse of the Duomo (Cathedral…
The Belltower of the Cathedral of Monreale, 2005
The Cloister Behind the Cathedral of Monreale, 200…
The Tomb of William II in the Duomo of Monreale, M…
Inlaid Marble Altar in the Treasury inside the Cat…
The Lapis Lazuli Altarpiece in the Treasury Chapel…
Marble Pavement in the Treasury in the Cathedral o…
A Street Near the Cathedreal of Monreale, March 20…
View From the Cathedral of Monreale, March 2005
"La Martorana" Bar in Monreale in the Rain, March…
Mercedes Smart Car in Monreale, March 2005
The Hotel Addaura Residence Congressi, March 2005
La Cuba, a Medieval Castle in Palermo, March 2005
The Cloister in St. John of the Hermits in Palermo…
The Cloister in St. John of the Hermits in Palermo…
The Church of St. John of the Hermits in Palermo,…
The Church of St. John of the Hermits in Palermo,…
The Church of St. John of the Hermits in Palermo,…
A Street near the Norman Palace on the way to the…
Interior Courtyard Inside the Norman Palace in Pal…
Exterior of the Norman Palace in Palermo, March 20…
Remains of a Roman Floor in Villa Bonnano Park in…
Remains of a Black and White Roman Floor Mosaic in…
Remains of a Roman Floor Mosaic in Villa Bonnano P…
Roman Marble Torso in the Villa Bonnano Park in Pa…
Remains of a Cistern in a Roman House in the Villa…
Remains of a Roman House in the Villa Bonnano Park…
Remains of a Roman House in the Villa Bonnano Park…
Plan of "Building A" a Roman House in Villa Bonnan…
Villa Bonnano Park in Palermo, March 2005
Villa Bonnano Park in Palermo, March 2005
The Duomo, or Cathedral of Palermo, March 2005
The Duomo, or Cathedral of Palermo, March 2005
A Baroque Church in Palermo, March 2005
The Kalsa Gate in Palermo, March 2005
Statue of the Virgin & Child in the Church of Sant…
Exterior of the Church of Santa Theresa in Palermo…
Shrine on the Street in Palermo, March 2005
Sicilian Shrine Near the Vucciria in Palermo, Marc…
Vucciria Market in Palermo, 2005
Alley Near the Vucciria Market in Palermo, March 2…
Vucciria Market in Palermo, 2005
Column in Front of the Church of San Domenico in P…
A Store Across from the Church of San Domenico in…
Piazza San Domenico in Palermo, 2005
A Building in the Botanical Gardens in Palermo, Ma…
War-Torn Building Near the Marionette Museum in Pa…
The Porta Felice in Palermo, March 2005
Fountain in Palermo, March 2005
The Church of Santa Maria della Catene in Palermo,…
The Church of Santa Maria della Catene in Palermo,…
The Harbor in Palermo, March 2005
Boats in the Harbor in Palermo, March 2005
Sicilian Couple Taking their Wedding Pictures in t…
Small Bridal Shop in Palermo, March 2005
Detail of the Norman Mosaic in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Bridal Shop in Palermo, March 2005
Detail of the Norman Mosaic in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Detail of the Norman Mosaic in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Norman Mosaic and Fountain in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Norman Mosaic and Fountain in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Norman Mosaic and Fountain in La Zisa, a Medieval…
Remains of the Pond in from of La Zisa, a Medieval…
La Zisa, a Medieval Castle in Palermo, March 2005
Detail of La Zisa, a Medieval Castle in Palermo, M…
La Zisa, a Medieval Castle in Palermo, March 2005
La Zisa, a Medieval Castle in Palermo, March 2005
Villa on the Way to La Zisa in Palermo, March 2005
Bingo Hall across from the Teatro Politeama in Pal…
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The Exterior of the Cathedral of Monreale, 2005
The Cathedral of Monreale is the greatest of all the monuments of the wealth and artistic taste of the Norman kings in northern Sicily. It was begun about 1170 by William II, and in 1182 the church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was, by a bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to the rank of a metropolitan cathedral.
The outside of the Arab-Norman cathedral is plain, except the aisle walls and three eastern apses, which are decorated with intersecting pointed arches and other ornaments inlaid in marble.
The archiepiscopal palace and monastic buildings on the south side were of great size and magnificence, and were surrounded by a massive precinct wall, crowned at intervals by twelve towers. This has been mostly rebuilt, and but little now remains except ruins of some of the towers, a great part of the monks' dormitory and frater, and the splendid cloister, completed about 1200.
This last is well preserved, and is one of the finest Italian cloisters both for size and beauty of detail now extant. It is about 170 sq. feet, with pointed arches decorated with diaper work, supported on pairs of columns in white marble, 216 in all, which were alternately plain and decorated by bands of patterns in gold and colors, made of glass tesserae, arranged either spirally or vertically from end to end of each shaft. The marble caps are each richly carved with figures and foliage executed with great skill and wonderful fertility of invention, no two being alike. At one angle, a square pillared projection contains the marble fountain or monks' lavatory, evidently the work of Muslim sculptors.
The church's plan is a mixture of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic arrangement. The nave is like an Italian basilica, while the large triple-apsed choir is like one of the early three-apsed churches, of which so many examples still exist in Syria and other Oriental countries. It is, in fact, like two quite different churches put together endwise.
The outsides of the principal doorways and their pointed arches are magnificently enriched with carving and colored inlay, a curious combination of three styles - Norman-French, Byzantine and Arab.
The basilican nave is wide, with narrow aisles. Monolithic columns of grey oriental granite (except one, which is of cipollino), evidently the spoils of older buildings, on each side support eight pointed arches much stilted. The capitals of these (mainly Corinthian) are also of the classical period. There is no triforium, but a high clerestory with wide two-light windows, with simple tracery like those in the nave-aisles and throughout the church, which give sufficient (if anything too much) light.
The other half, Eastern in two senses, is both wider and higher than the nave. It also is divided into a central space with two aisles, each of the divisions ending at the east with an apse. The roofs throughout are of open woodwork very low in pitch, constructionally plain, but richly decorated with color, now mostly restored. At the west end of the nave are two projecting towers, with a narthex (entrance) between them. A large open atrium, which once existed at the west, is now completely destroyed, having been replaced by a Renaissance portico.
It is, however, the large extent (6,500 2) and glittering splendour of the glass mosaics covering the interior which make this church so splendid. With the exception of a high dado, itself very beautiful, made of marble slabs with bands of mosaic between them, the whole interior surface of the walls, including soffits and jambs of all the arches, is covered with minute mosaic-pictures in brilliant colors on a gold ground. The mosaic pictures are arranged in tiers, divided by horizontal and vertical bands. In parts of the choir there are five of these tiers of subjects or single figures one above another.
Although not so refined as mosaics in Cefalù and the Palazzo dei Normanni, the cathedral interior nevertheless contains the largest cycle of Byzantine mosaics extant in Italy.The half dome of the central apse has a colossal half-length figure of Christ
The outside of the Arab-Norman cathedral is plain, except the aisle walls and three eastern apses, which are decorated with intersecting pointed arches and other ornaments inlaid in marble.
The archiepiscopal palace and monastic buildings on the south side were of great size and magnificence, and were surrounded by a massive precinct wall, crowned at intervals by twelve towers. This has been mostly rebuilt, and but little now remains except ruins of some of the towers, a great part of the monks' dormitory and frater, and the splendid cloister, completed about 1200.
This last is well preserved, and is one of the finest Italian cloisters both for size and beauty of detail now extant. It is about 170 sq. feet, with pointed arches decorated with diaper work, supported on pairs of columns in white marble, 216 in all, which were alternately plain and decorated by bands of patterns in gold and colors, made of glass tesserae, arranged either spirally or vertically from end to end of each shaft. The marble caps are each richly carved with figures and foliage executed with great skill and wonderful fertility of invention, no two being alike. At one angle, a square pillared projection contains the marble fountain or monks' lavatory, evidently the work of Muslim sculptors.
The church's plan is a mixture of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic arrangement. The nave is like an Italian basilica, while the large triple-apsed choir is like one of the early three-apsed churches, of which so many examples still exist in Syria and other Oriental countries. It is, in fact, like two quite different churches put together endwise.
The outsides of the principal doorways and their pointed arches are magnificently enriched with carving and colored inlay, a curious combination of three styles - Norman-French, Byzantine and Arab.
The basilican nave is wide, with narrow aisles. Monolithic columns of grey oriental granite (except one, which is of cipollino), evidently the spoils of older buildings, on each side support eight pointed arches much stilted. The capitals of these (mainly Corinthian) are also of the classical period. There is no triforium, but a high clerestory with wide two-light windows, with simple tracery like those in the nave-aisles and throughout the church, which give sufficient (if anything too much) light.
The other half, Eastern in two senses, is both wider and higher than the nave. It also is divided into a central space with two aisles, each of the divisions ending at the east with an apse. The roofs throughout are of open woodwork very low in pitch, constructionally plain, but richly decorated with color, now mostly restored. At the west end of the nave are two projecting towers, with a narthex (entrance) between them. A large open atrium, which once existed at the west, is now completely destroyed, having been replaced by a Renaissance portico.
It is, however, the large extent (6,500 2) and glittering splendour of the glass mosaics covering the interior which make this church so splendid. With the exception of a high dado, itself very beautiful, made of marble slabs with bands of mosaic between them, the whole interior surface of the walls, including soffits and jambs of all the arches, is covered with minute mosaic-pictures in brilliant colors on a gold ground. The mosaic pictures are arranged in tiers, divided by horizontal and vertical bands. In parts of the choir there are five of these tiers of subjects or single figures one above another.
Although not so refined as mosaics in Cefalù and the Palazzo dei Normanni, the cathedral interior nevertheless contains the largest cycle of Byzantine mosaics extant in Italy.The half dome of the central apse has a colossal half-length figure of Christ
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