We’re docked in Palermo for the weekend, and yesterday’s excursions to the Palatine Chapel in the Palace of the Normans in the morning and Monreale Cathedral in the afternoon were an absolute treat for me as a quilter.
The Norman King Roger, who I mentioned yesterday, was responsible for conquering Arab-held Sicily in 1072 and ushering in an era of prosperity and harmony as Arabs and Christians lived together. The Arab-Norman style of architecture that resulted is very beautiful, and so different from that of Rome.
Here’s a collage I created of some of the mosaic designs on the floors and walls in the 12th century Palatine Chapel built by King Roger.
Cefalu Cathedral, glorious as it was, is overshadowed by the opulence of the decoration in these two churches on our tour itinerary today. The walls of both are covered with Byzantine mosaics in gold and precious stones like lapis lazuli in the most intricate designs. I didn’t know where to point my camera first and I had a hard time capturing everything I wanted to.
These palm tree shapes run all round the walls and each one is filled in with a different design of mosaic tiles, representing the common humanity of many races living in harmony.
There several quilters like me, drooling over what we saw!
Hi Mum/Di,
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful Sunday here, so we took full advantage and gave Chester an extra long walk in the park and caught up with your travels reading the blog on the iPhone. Leaving a comment proved too much for the iPhone, so we've returned to use the iPad, what a pair of apple nerds!
Love the pictures of the tiles in Palermo, particularly the ones above which remind us both of the Alhambra. You sound like you're having a wonderful time.
We are all well, though World Cup fever is about to take possession of Ben. Jason and Chris and Kevin came over last night to watch Korea take on Greece, thankfully Korea won 2 nil.
Much love, L and M.