Monday 21 May 2018. We were on a cruise on the Marella Explorer - her first cruise under that name and company in fact. Today we had docked in Palermo in Sicily and our route to the old cathedral took us through a maze of narrow streets, most quite narrow and filled with market stalls and the bustle of people, scooters and dogs. We got lost and were trying to head back to the main streets when we overheard someone pointing out the way to the cathedral to someone else. We followed the path indicated!
Having reached the cathedral area the first thing we see is a protected section of Roman mosaic flooring.
The Roman paving was just to the side of the cathedral grounds and was behind me as I took this photograph. Palermo Cathedral was first built in 1185 though most of what is visible today dates from the 14th and 15th centuries and a great twenty-year project from 1781-1801. It was built over the site of an earlier Byzantine basilica, reportedly built by Pope Gregory I. This had been converted to a mosque during the 9th century when the Saracens took the city.
The grounds were well laid out and there were lots of people walking about. A group of novice nuns were taking turns to dance with visitors and then take group selfies with a great deal of laughter and enjoyment. I don't know what they are going to do about Maria...
The portico of the main entrance dates from c1465. The cathedral saw the coronations of Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy and Charles III of Spain. There are several kings, queens and emperors buried here and Odo of Bayeux, the half-brother of our own William the Conqueror was buried here in the earlier basilica in 1097.
The cathedral is connected to the Archbishops' Palace by arches across the street. In one of the domes of the cathedral a tiny hole in the dome acts as a pinhole camera and an image of the sun crosses the floor of the cathedral, at midday in winter crossing a bronze line on the floor. (In summer the change to summertime means this happens at 1:00pm or 13:00)
Cosmopolitan Classics - Marella Explorer's Inaugural Cruise Index
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