The Arab-Norman Palermo Itinerary

The Arab-Norman Palermo itinerary is a Unesco world heritage site and a material example of coexistence, interaction and interchange between different cultural components of historical and geographic heterogeneous origin. This syncretism has generated an original architectural and artistic style, of exceptional universal value, in which Byzantine, Islamic and Latin elements are admirably fused, capable each time to be produced unique combinations of exceptional artistic value and extraordinarily unitary.

Thanks to this route, a guest can discover the most original and vital expression of the city, starting with Palazzo Reale, a masterpiece of Norman art, with its Cappella Palatina covered from top to bottom with mosaics and golden tiles to arrive at the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, founded by the Normans in 1132, but clearly bearing in mind the spatial concept of mosques. Then the cathedral, built in 1100, where the Romanesque style is interwoven with Gothic and Baroque touches is, naturally, a must. Closing your tour with the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (known as the Martorana, Concathedral of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi), founded around 1140, was born as a private chapel dedicated to the Virgin and is the symbol of the purity of the Orthodox Byzantine genius.