What makes Italy such a great Country? Not just fashion or its culinary tradition but most its history and culture of the past as evidenced by the great attention given by the UNESCO to this unique European State. It’s well known that Italy has more World Heritage Sites than any other Country on earth: these sites pass on the meeting of so many peoples , each of which has left something memorable to this peninsula!
Now to the list of places that belong to the human race and keep its memory is added the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale, just recently listed. The Arab-Norman architectural itinerary, candidate for the social and cultural syncretism that represents, winds its way through Palermo, Monreale and Cefalu.
It includes nine monuments, both civil and religious, seven of these only in the city of Palermo.
Here we are: the Royal Palace with the Palatine Chapel, the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio (della Martoriana), the church of San Cataldo, the “Palazzo della Zisa”, Admiral’s Bridge, the Cathedral (all these inPalermo); Cefalù Cathedral and Monreale Cathedral. Why these monuments are so extraordinary ? Because they are the perfect combination of two art cultures totally different and far: Christian and Islamic , which combine to give birth to a new form that blends the shapes and colors of Arab art with symbols and structures of Norman and Christian art, a combination that is unique in the world…
That’s only one of the many stories Italy can tell to you, a story of beauty and magic, a story that charms everyone who comes here to start a new life