Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel

Falcone Borsellino Airport (IATA: PMO) or simply Palermo Airport, is located at Punta Raisi, 35 km / 22 mi west northwest of Palermo, the capital city of the Italian island of Sicily. It is the 8th Italian airport with 7.018.087 passengers handled in 2019.

The Norman Palace was built around the 10th Century by the Arab emirs. The Norman kings chose it as a residence and saw it as a fortress but also as an abode with exceptional lavishness and sophistication. For their architecture, they made use of the technical mastery of Muslim workforces, thus generating “Arab-Norman Art”. The building complex which now forms the Royal Palace is the result of additions made between the 16th and 17th centuries, giving it a consistent appearance. Besides the splendid Palatine Chapel, inside the palace one may also admire the Sala d’Ercole (Hercules Hall), built in 1560 and named that way due to the presence of paintings by Giuseppe Velasquez depicting scenes of the mythological hero; the Sala del Duca di Montalto (Duke of Montalto Hall) decorated with frescos by Pietro Novelli, the Sala dei Viceré (Viceroy Hall) where 21 portraits of the kingdom’s viceroys, presidents and lieutenants are on display; the Sala di Re Ruggero (King Roger Hall) where the walls and vaults are covered with mosaics with naturalistic motifs, on a bed of golden tiles; the Sala della Regina (Queen Hall) in Pompeian style and with paintings by Giuseppe Patania, and so on. The Torre Pisana hosts the Astronomical Observatory since 1791. Since 1946, the Norman Palace hosts the Sicilian Region Assembly and is the meeting point of the Sicilian Parliament, which glories in being the most ancient in Europe, having been formed by King Roger in 1140.

Marina Villa Igiea is the yacht harbour of Palermo. Its strategic location, in the heart of the Mediterranean, makes it a reference point for countless routes. Few steps away from down town and only fourty minutes by car from the international airport of Palermo, Marina Villa Igiea offers 400 fully equipped berths for boats up to 75 meters, while a new pier will soon welcome megayachts up to 120 meters LOA. An impressive project of expansion and improvement of services is gradually turning the place into one of the most prestigious and important marinas in the Med. Being part of the scenic district Acquasanta, north of the industrial port, Marina Villa Igiea is sheltered by the mountains surrounding Palermo and by two breakwaters. The famous, luxurious, five stars Grand Hotel Villa Igiea is located just behind the harbour.

The Cathedral is considered to be “History Book of Palermo”, because all dominations which have taken control over the centuries have left traces of their presence: the construction dates back to 1184. The southern façade (the one facing Via Vittorio Emanuele) is particularly evocative, with its magnificent portico, completed in 1453, representing a masterpiece of Catalan Gothic (the so-called gotico fiorito) and with a marble balustrade surrounding the Cathedral’s main area, added by Vincenzo Gagini in 1574 and later decorated with statues of Sicilian male and female saints. The wide inside area was radically transformed between 1781 and 1801, giving the baroque concept of space a correct neoclassical proportion, where the dome is the fundamental element of balance. The royal tombs in red porphyry are of remarkable interest, the one of Frederick II in particular, as well as the chapel with the silver urn of St. Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, which is carried in procession on every 15th of July, the holy water font made by Domenico Gagini in the 15th Century with a shell-shaped basin and reliefs representing the Baptism of Jesus and the Annunciation; the 1794 High Altar in semi-precious stones and fine woods, and the treasure, filled with sacred vestments, calyxes, breviaries, ostensories and more, mostly dating back to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. One object which is definitely of great interest is the tiara of Constance of Aragon, which was found in her sepulchre.

Palermo Centrale station is the main railway station of the city of Palermo. It is located in the heart of the city, in Piazza Giulio Cesare. It is also the station of origin of the line for the Palermo-Falcone Borsellino airport and of the metropolitan railway service.

The church of St. John of the Hermits (San Giovanni degli Eremiti), one of the most distinguished medieval buildings of Palermo and one of most symbolic monuments of the city, was built in the Norman age, from 1130 to 1148, under the reign of Roger II, and later underwent a radical restoration by Giuseppe Patricolo, in 1882. The inner structural module of the church is given by a cubic structure covered by a dome. This module is repeated five times: twice in the aisle of the single nave, and three times in the transept. The juxtaposition of the square, which represents the earth, with the circle, which represents the sky, is recurrent in Fatimid Islamic culture as well as in Byzantine culture. The interior is bare and collected. The central nave is divided horizontally by a firm pointed arch which is identical to the one on the front end of the transept. The latter has three semi-circular apses, of which only the middle one is pronounced on the outer side beyond structure of the wall. The Cloister, of uncertain dating, possibly from the 18th Century, is attached to the church. The cloister is rectangular, with pointed arches disposed on twin columns.

Located on the first floor of the Norman Palace, the Palatine Chapel was built from 1130 to 1132 under the reign of Roger II as the main chapel of the Royal Palace. In 1132, it was elevated to a Parish Church and dedicated to the Saints Peter and Paul, but over the years the double dedication was forgotten and the parish simply became known as of St. Peter. The fact remains, however, that the right-hand nave is decorated with episodes from the life of St. Paul, and the left-hand one with episodes from the life of St. Peter. The Chapel represents the Norman rulers’ successful condensation of their aspiration to restore the cultural world pertinent to the Christian faith, at the same time drawing from the experience of the Muslim world to create luxurious decorations worthy of the royal power. The chapel is entirely covered with a fascinating golden mosaic decoration created by skilled Byzantine craftsmen, and presents religious iconographic themes with a majestic Christ Pantocrator towering above the chapel, surrounded by angels and archangels. The chapel has three naves separated by ten columns, five on each side, in Egyptian granite. The mosaic pavement follows a design representing continuously repeated identical motifs; the one located at the foot of the dome is particularly interesting and lavish, presenting a geometrical design of obvious Byzantine inspiration. The luxurious ceiling is in Muqarnas style, with Islamic-style paintings: two rows of large eight-pointed star-shaped panels closing out smaller lobed domes with eight curved wedges; the star is composed of two faces, the inner one adorned with geometrical decorations and the outer one with Kufic script, typical of ancient Arabic decorative writing.

The Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio (St. Mary of the Admiral) was built in 1143 by George of Antioch, Admiral of King Roger II. In the 15th Century it was given to the nearby convent of Benedictine nuns, founded in 1994 by Goffredo and Eloisa Martorana; since then, the church has also been known as “Martorana”. The building is composed by the sanctuary, which maintains its original square structure with its dome supported by four large pointed arches, typical of the Arab-Norman style, and by baroque naves, added at the end of the 17th Century covering the entrance atrium, as the church was initially introduced by an open courtyard with a bell tower, which was then elevated in the 14th Century, and which in the 16th Century became the church’s main entrance. The wide interior has three naves with a choir at the entrance supported by columns coming from previous Norman buildings. The Byzantine mosaics covering part of the interior are of significant interest, as well as the 17th Century frescos on the sub-choir, by Olivio Sozzi and Guglielmo Borremans. The deep-set quadrangular presbytery, dating back to 1685, is decorated with multicoloured inlaid marble; the altar has a precious lapis lazuli tabernacle from the end of the 17th Century, and above there is the Raphaelite-style “Ascension”, painted in 1533 by Vincenzo da Pavia. The church belongs to the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, a Greco-Byzantine rite Catholic diocese belonging to the Sicilian Byzantine Church. Restoration works have recently been completed.