2-995-786 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Chapel Royal, Palermo, 1860. Interior of '...the splendid Capilla Reale...which may be said to unite three styles together - the Greek, Romanesque, and Saracenic, a combination only to be found in Sicily. This celebrated chapel is attached to the Palazzo Reale...It was built by Roger, the first Norman King of Sicily, and was finished in 1132...It possesses all the features of a large church - a nave, side aisles, and three apses. It is in the long Latin form, with a Greek cupola at the intersection of the cross. The pillars of the nave are probably taken from earlier buildings: some are of granite, others marble. Their capitals are not alike: the arches they support are pointed...The dark wooden roof is very elaborate and peculiar, and [is] fashioned in the Moorish style...The greater part of the interior of this architectural gem is entirely covered with mosaics, on a gold ground, and, as may be imagined, the effect is wonderfully rich...The gigantic half figure seen over the high altar represents the Almighty. The floor is inlaid with coloured marbles, in patterns. Beside the granite pulpit, also in laid with marbles, stands a marble candelabrum...This Royal chapel is in a state of perfect preservation'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.