Tuesday 12 Sept – Pursuing Palermo’s Past

First stop this morning was the local Visitor Information Centre where the delightful Danielle made a couple of phone calls in an endeavour to locate our missing luggage. Then off to view the local sights. Palermo is certainly not Rome; the streets around this historic quarter (Q Vattro Canti -one of four traditional quarters) are narrow and many of the buildings are in disrepair. However we found a couple of beautiful churches: La Martorana Maria Del Ammiriglio , dating from the 12th century and endowed by King Roger’s Syrian emir, George of Antioch. It was originally planned as a mosque and it contains magnificent Byzantine-styled mosaics and a domed, frescoed cupola. Our next church was the Capitolare di St Cataldo, 12th century in Arab/Norman style, with three pink domes and a more austere interior. Then on to the Church of St Caterina d’Assandria where almost every square inch was intricately carved; so much detail that it was hard to take it all in. We then spent quite some time at the Palermo Cathedral, a prime example of Sicily’s unique Arab-Norman architectural style (although it has had multiple reworkings over the centuries). We visited the royal tombs, where the Norman kings – the Rogers and the Fredericks - are interred, and the Treasury, home to Queen Constance of Aragon’s gem-encrusted 13th century crown as well as many other magnificent examples of the gold- and silver-smiths art. The cathedral interior, while impressive, is fairly plain in contrast with the distinctive Arab styling of its exterior. Last stop was a call past the magnificent Pretoria Fountain, erected in 1573. Apparently the flagrant nudity of the nymphs proved too much for the church-goers attending the adjacent church and they dubbed it “The Fountain of Shame”. We spent the rest of the afternoon sourcing some basic clothing and toiletries before retiring to our lovely apartment in an old palace (with lots of stairs). Tomorrow – on the bus across Sicily to Agrigento.