Palermo

Palermo is difficult to describe. The city has an air of decadent decay, somewhere between Damascus and Venice. My hotel was in the center on a small street behind locked gate. At first the street did not seem to be a street I would take. Later I realized that most of the streets in center of Palermo are like that street. It was late when I finally reached the hotel. The receptionist knew a couple of English words and explained me in Italian where to find a good restaurant. I ate and went straight to bed. I woke up around midnight, there was a lot of noise outside - fireworks, shouting, songs. I was so tired that I tried to sleep through it. Finally at 4 the celebration petered out. I never learned what they celebrated. The next morning I slept until 11 am, I just could not force myself to get up. That messed up my plans a little bit since most of the churches close between 12 and 3 pm. Anyway, in the morning I went to see La Martorana - Greek church founded in 12th century with Byzantine mosaics.

From outside - mixture of styles (later additions)

12th century Byzantine mosaics

In the afternoon I went to Monreale to see the Cathedral of Monreale  - "one of the greatest existent examples of Norman architecture in the world". Apparently, William II had to build the Cathedral to establish himself as sovereign. Amazingly he did it in just 10 years and as a result there is no mixture of later styles in the building. The mosaics inside are the biggest I have seen during my trip. The Cathedral is ordinary from outside, but beautiful inside, here are some pictures.

Christ Pantocrator in the central apse

Most mosaics depict Biblical scenes

Monreale is on the edge of Palermo. Returning to Palermo I found the horrible traffic again. Actually the traffic lights are more advisory than regulatory, the streets have no traffic rules. Zebra crossing does not mean anything there. Several vehicles can drive in the same lane with very little distance between them, occasionally motorcycles, bikes and mopeds join them to share the same space. At some moment one gets fed up with all the traffic, the constant noise, the smell from the garbage piling on the streets. To rephrase Sinatra - if you can make it in Palermo you can make it anywhere. Here are couple more pictures from Palermo.

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, 12th century Norman church - built on the grounds of a mosque, with architecture reflecting Islamic traditions.

Palermo Cathedral, built in 12th century to surpass the glory of Monreale (sorry, Cathedral, you lost). Many later additions were made over several centuries.