The norman conquest
I, on other hand, arrive on a nofrills flight from stansted and am briskly offloaded at the arrivals hall of palermo airport to catch the shuttle into town.It is only later, as i am whisked along the autostrada past oleander, fig and fluffy yellow mimosa, that i begin to defrost in the warm embrace of the south.
As the shuttle sweeps into the conca d'oro, the city's fertile, mountainfringed bay, citrus groves give way to suburban sprawl, then to wide boulevards and finally to dusty piazzas shaded by palms and bizarrely contorted banyan trees.
My hotel is off one such piazza, in an area of the city known as la kalsa.It was here, two and a half millennia ago, that the greeks established a port in a city they named panormos.The greeks were not the first colonists:Phoenicians and carthaginians preceded them, and romans, byzantines, arabs, normans, angevins and spaniards followed, each leaving behind a rich seam of history.
But i'm only here for a weekend, with little time to explore.So after fortifying myself with a sharp espresso, i step out into the streets of la kalsa.Bombed by the allies in 1943, formerly crumbling churches and palazzi are now emerging from behind scaffolding, pristine and gleaming.
Stepping over a dozing dog i turn into via vittorio emanuele ii,
Pandora Charms UK the street formerly known as cassaro(From the arabic alqasr, or castle)To arrive at the quattro canti("Four corners").This crossroads, marking the meeting point of the city's ancient quarters, is overlooked on all sides by four haughty baroque figures.I bid them a hasty farewell as i cross.
It's not that i don't like baroque architecture(You can't avoid it here)But i want to peel back a few more layers of history to uncover the 12th century, when the former moorish metropolis of bal'harm flourished under norman rule to become the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in europe.
A few hundred paces later and i've stepped back nearly 10 centuries as i stand in front of the cathedral, built on the site of the city's most important mosque.This great slab of golden stone, etched with interlacing geometric designs is a harmonious fusion of norman sturdiness, arabic delicacy and gothic grace(Spoilt only by it neoclassical dome).
After a brief stop at a gelateria i continue to the palazzo dei normanni to join the queues waiting to see the jewel in palermo's arabnorman crown.The cappella palatina, an alluring display of 12thcentury bravado, dazzles with its byzantine mosaics, magnificent royal throne and woodcarved islamic ceiling.
But palermo is not all monumental bluster.Tucked behind the palazzo dei normanni i find the chaste san giovanni degli eremiti, the bare 12thcentury bones of a church surrounded by lush gardens.This is an oasis of peace amid the chaos that is modern palermo, where the traffic fumes give way to the scent of orange blossom, and the screech of vespas to the chirrup of birdsong.
Sitting among the bougainvillea and date palms i ponder the happy synthesis of norman and muslim architectural styles revealed here, the moorish tomatored domes atop a church of christian design.My quiet reverie is broken by a herd of boisterous italian schoolchildren hotly pursued by their frazzled guardians.Time to leave.
It's early evening when i turn off the main streets into a warren of narrow alleyways strung with washing lines, shadowy courtyards and baroque piazzas.This is ballar an ancient district where palermo's market traders have been doing a roaring trade for the past thousand years.
Even today ballar is still more souk than market.I lose myself in a maze of colourful, canvasroofed stalls hung with bright, bare bulbs.Swarthy vendors sell vegetables, cheeses, spices and cheap sunglasses in a dialect tinged with guttural arabic, as scooters piled high with bulging bags weave between stalls and shoppers.Drunk on a heady mix of fresh basil, fish and scooter fumes, i return to my hotel.
Next day, another magnificent 12thcentury masterpiece.Monreale cathedral, atop a hill just outside the city, is the highlight of my arabnorman odyssey.This glittering palace of byzantine mosaics is rivalled only, i am assured, by istanbul's santa sofia, and the cloister is an exquisite islamicstyle ensemble of slender inlaid columns linked by graceful arches.
As i head back into town i can't resist a detour to the convento dei cappuccini, a monastery where, for more than four centuries, capuchin friars embalmed the great and the good of palermo.A friar takes my entrance fee and i descend into dark tunnels lined with cadavers, all dressed in their sunday best.Some lie sedately, arms crossed over their chests;Others are propped upright, heads lolling forward.Notices pinned up at strategic intervals invite reflection as if you needed reminding on the fragility of life.
Outside, through the grilles at street level, i hear children playing, dogs barking, sirens blaring.Never has the whiff, din and turmoil of an italian city been so appealing.
Succumbing to an overwhelming urge to return to the land of the living, i hurry up the stairs, past the friar at the door and emerge, blinking, into the setting sun.
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