December 28 - We visited both the Palazzo dei Normanni with its Capella Palatina and the cathedral at Monreale. We took so many photos this day alone that I think I'm going to have to break it up into multiple posts just to keep things moving. But the basic theme for the day as a whole could be summed up as: "HOLY COW LOOK AT ALL THE MOSAICS!!!" and "Why didn't our families take us up on our offer to come on holiday with us?", a.k.a. "They're going to regret this!"
But first, a little Aldus love. He started rolling over in his sleep on this trip:
Breakfast was pastries and coffee at Pasticceria Caffetteria Bertini around the corner from the hotel. They had handouts at the counter saying that they were offering pastry-making lessons. Oh to be able to have attended those!
We knew it would be a long day on our feet without Aldus's stroller, so we took a taxi over to Normanni with its beautiful interior courtyard. It almost makes you want to be a member of the Sicilian parliament just to work there! (Or not. Whatever.)
We started with the Capella Palatina upstairs. The exterior had a wall of little mosaics that must be a quilt-makers dream. All unique patterns!
Above all these unique little mosaic tiles were huge, stunningly intricate mosaics depicting the saints...
...and scenes from Palermo's history. Mosaic(!!!):
Mosaic(!!!):
Mosaic(!!!):
Okay, so it wasn't ALL mosaic. There were also some marble and wood
reliefs outside the chapel, too. I loved this ultra-high relief figure
standing on the edge of the "frame":
But inside the chapel? Mosaic(!!!):
Mosaic(!!!):
Mosaic(!!!):
The ENTIRE place is covered in mosaics! (Unfortunately, it was also being renovated, so I didn't get a very good photo around all the scaffolding. But I think you get the idea.)
After visiting the chapel, we joined a mixed-language tour (Italian and English) of the palace. There weren't as many opportunities for photos, but we did find this mural - painted to look like marble over a mosaic - interesting!
Beautiful pictures.
Posted by: Kate C. | February 14, 2008 at 03:08 PM