Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral
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Technical Evaluation Mission An ICOMOS technical evaluation mission visited the Arab-Norman Palermo and the property from 22 to 25 September 2014. Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Additional information received by ICOMOS Monreale A letter was sent by ICOMOS to the State Party on 9 (Italy) September 2014 to request further information about No 1487 future plans to extend the serial nomination; the proposed boundaries for the buffer zone; the English-language texts of the justifications for the criteria under which inscription is proposed; the interrelationships of the management system, plan, and structure; the sources and level of Official name as proposed by the State Party funding available to the nominated serial property; the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of monitoring system and the inventory of previous reporting Cefalú and Monreale exercises; and community involvement in the preparation of the nomination dossier and management plan. Location Municipalities of Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalú The State Party replied on 31 October and 12 November Sicilian Region 2014, sending additional documentation which has been Italy taken into account in this evaluation. Brief description A second letter was sent to the State Party on 17 Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of December 2014, asking it to confirm its proposed Cefalú and Monreale is a series of nine religious and civic extension of the buffer zones; to make the Memorandum structures dating from the era of the Norman kingdom of of Understanding, management structure, and Sicily (1130-1194). Two palaces, three churches, a Management Plan fully operational as soon as possible; cathedral, and a bridge are in Palermo, the capital of the and to revise the proposed management system for the kingdom, and two cathedrals are in the municipalities of overall serial property. Monreale and Cefalù. Collectively, they illustrate a socio- cultural syncretism between Western, Islamic, and The State Party replied on 24 February 2015, sending Byzantine cultures that gave rise to an architectural and additional documentation that has been taken into account artistic expression based on novel concepts of space, in this evaluation. structure, and decoration. Date of ICOMOS approval of this report Category of property 12 March 2015 In terms of categories of cultural property set out in Article I of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, this is a serial nomination of 9 monuments. 2 The property Description 1 Basic data This 6.235-ha serial property in Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalú on the northern coast of Sicily illustrates the Included in the Tentative List multicultural Western-Islamic-Byzantine syncretism that 18 October 2010 characterized the Norman kingdom of Sicily during the 12th century. From the 22 major Norman-era monuments International Assistance from the World Heritage that have survived on the island, nine have been Fund for preparing the Nomination nominated for their historical importance, state of None conservation, authenticity, and accessibility. They are the Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel; Zisa Palace; Palermo Date received by the World Heritage Centre Cathedral; Monreale Cathedral; Cefalù Cathedral; Church 29 January 2014 of San Giovanni degli Eremiti; Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio; Church of San Cataldo; and Admiral’s Background Bridge. Each of the nine components of the nominated This is a new nomination. serial property is described below: Consultations 1. The Palaces ICOMOS consulted its International Scientific Committee The Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel stands at the on Historic Towns and Villages and several independent highest point of the ancient city of Palermo. The palace experts. today reflects the substantial rebuilding that took place in the medieval period and later, but parts of the Norman Romanesque work remain, such as the Pisan Tower and 235 Sala di Ruggero (Roger’s Room), as well as combinations by five red stuccoed domes. Restored in the 19th century, of Islamic and Byzantine styles within its multilayered the building’s stonework is exposed in the largely fabric. The well-preserved Palatine Chapel in the centre of undecorated interior, which is characterized by diminishing the palace contains exceptional Byzantine mosaics, inlaid multiple arches that confer a distinctive and symbolic marble designs, and Islamic painted ceilings within its nature to the monument. There is also a cloister enclosed Arab-influenced Norman architecture. by arches supported on small paired columns. Zisa Palace was built within the Islamic-inspired garden Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio is a compact, (the Genoard, from Jannat al-ard, “paradise on earth”) that domed Greek-cross plan to which were added a bell tower once surrounded the ancient city of Palermo. This and a narthex to house the tomb of George of Antioch. summer retreat is the most important and representative The portico is later, from the Baroque period. The ornate monument of the Genoard, and, despite significant 20th- Byzantine mosaics inside are among the most remarkable century interventions, constitutes the best preserved from the Komnenian period of Byzantium (1081-1185). model of Arab-Norman palace architecture. The crystalline The focal point is the image of Pantocrator Christ in the forms of its Ifriqiyan (Islamic North African) architecture summit of the dome. The well-preserved inlaid marble are designed to refract light. The Fountain Room on the flooring faithfully reflects Byzantine models, while some ground level of the building is enhanced by nonreligious ornamental motifs clearly show Islamic influences. mosaics and vaults with stalactite-like muqarnas. Church of San Cataldo, now a museum, is a small, 2. The Cathedrals and Churches austere building, cubic in form, with three very shallow arches on each façade into which small, high windows Palermo Cathedral was created in the 12th century by have been set. It has three spherical red domes over its reconstructing an existing mosque. The massive building nave, and cross vaulting over two side aisles defined by has undergone major changes since its construction, and four columns. The absence of interior finishes allows an now reflects a mixture of Arab, Norman, Byzantine, appreciation of the Byzantine-style architecture, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque particularly the articulation of the vaults and domes. The architectural styles. The large southern portico in the inlaid floor created by Islamic artisans is an example of a Catalan Gothic style was built about 1465, and the Byzantine tradition interpreted in a new and original way. prominent dome was added about 1785. The Latin-cross interior is divided into three aisles by columns that support 3. The Bridge the vaulting. The Norman interior finishes evidently did not include extensive pictorial or mosaic figurative Admiral’s Bridge is a testimony to Norman civil decorations. The tombs of the emperors and Sicilian kings engineering in the Mediterranean area. Built of freestone, were placed here in the 18th century. it originally spanned the Oreto river, which has since been diverted. The bridge is partially buried, and is Cefalù Cathedral, a fortress-like twin-towered edifice circumscribed by a fenced area. It has two steep, conceived by the Norman king of Sicily as a dynastic symmetrical ramps and seven spans. The arches are mausoleum, was built in Cluniac Romanesque form by articulated by thick pylons, each provided with a lancet- foreign workers. The extraordinary mosaics in the central arched opening to reduce the water’s pressure during apse of the Latin-cross building were realized by floods. Its construction technique and morphology can be Byzantine workers from Constantinople. The associated with a diffused typology of the Maghreb area. Romanesque idiom is also evident in the sculptural aspects of the Cathedral, particularly its cloister, while On 31 October 2014, the State Party indicated that the some decorative devices are the work of local workers possibility of a future request to extend the nominated trained in the Arab-Norman style. serial property has not been excluded. Monreale Cathedral testifies to the maturity of the History and development Norman-Islamic-Byzantine stylistic syncretism reached in The Normans (Northmen, descendants of the Vikings) the second half of the 12th century. The interior, about 110 invaded the southern Italian peninsula in the 11th century. m long by 40 m wide, has a wide central nave between They took possession of the Sicilian city of Palermo in two smaller aisles defined by 18 columns. Its vast 1071, and by 1091 had wrested control of the entire island expanses of mosaic scenes on a background of gold from its Muslim rulers. A united Norman kingdom was tesserae are extraordinary examples of the Siculo- created there in 1130, and Sicily became the centre of Byzantine style. Also notable are its marquetry, interlaced Norman power in this region under the rule of Roger II arches, sculptural refinement, and richness of fittings, (r. 1130-1154). He set about centralizing his government including bronze doors made by the Bonanno workshops at Palermo and expanding the lands under Norman rule. of Pisa. The cloister has 228 paired columns with ornately With his Greek admiral George of Antioch, Roger II carved capitals, some featuring inlaid mosaics. successfully conquered Ifriqiya (Northern Africa), progressively occupying the coast from Tunis to Tripoli. Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, once part of a The Normans capitalized on Sicily’s central location in the monastic complex and now a museum, is comprised of a Mediterranean Sea to make it an important centre for compact series of unadorned cubic volumes surmounted trade with Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. 236 By 1135, the Norman kingdom of Sicily included a wide Admiral’s Bridge was restored at the end of the 19th range of geo-cultural areas, including Campania and century. Much of the Royal Palace was rebuilt and northern Apulia, populated by people of Latin culture; added to in the 14th century.