So, after the church at Monreale, we retained the same guides (talk, talk, talk......) for the rest of the afternoon and visited the Cappella Palatina (the chapel in the Norman Royal Palace), the Duomo of Palermo and a fourth church. Everything in the afternoon was done by earpiece and wireless microphone making any comprehension impossible. So, while I still had any motivation, I purchased a little English guidebook for the Cappella Palatina to give me some understanding of what I was looking at. But after that, I didn't even keep the earpiece in and I exercised my option as a teacher to simply walk away and not pay attention. I was the envy of the students.
The apse of the Cappella Palatina. Similar iconography, material, etc. as the apse at Monreale.
At the back of the nave is a throne area.
Porphyry, or purple marble, only comes from Egypt so having it installed in one's church was a sign of power and wealth. It's beautiful and has such a sensuous feeling to the touch.
The whole chapel is filled with biblical scenes and for someone like me who never went to Bible school, the stories are lost on me.
A frieze of mosaic palms run the perimeter of the chapel.
The coolest thing of the chapel, and the photo just doesn't capture it, are the "muquarnas" of the nave ceiling. These are wooden stalagtite type things that form a 3-D fractal pattern.
The duomo of Palermo and at this point, I checked out.
This is a famous fountain that we walked by from one church to another. Can't say much about it.
We had some free time at the end of the day and I found this sign which is a monument to all those who have tried to fight the mafia. Only in Sicily...
Leaving Sicily on a boat from Tunisia, you can see why Palermo is called "The Golden Shell" as it is enclosed by a circle of mountains. Our 8 hour trip from Palermo to Tunis was rocked by heavy winds and strong waves. Seasickness was the theme.
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