Cappella Palatina, Royal chapel in Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo, Italy
Cappella Palatina is a two-story chapel inside Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo, with walls and vaults almost entirely covered in golden mosaics. The upper room is supported by slender columns that form a three-aisle basilica, while a wooden ceiling with geometric carvings floats above the central nave.
Roger II commissioned the chapel beginning in 1130 as a royal palace church and dedicated it to Saint Peter in 1140. The mosaics were added during his reign and under his successors William I and William II throughout the 12th century.
The name means Palace Chapel and refers to its role as a private prayer space for Norman kings and their court. Visitors today walk on the same floor where medieval rulers once stood, while the golden walls surround them with icons and inscriptions that reflected the religious life of that era.
The chapel sits on the first floor of the Norman palace and is reached by a main staircase leading up from the courtyard. Visits typically last between 30 and 45 minutes, and it helps to come in the morning to avoid the heaviest crowds.
The wooden ceiling carries small painted scenes with human figures in garden settings, which is highly uncommon for Islamic art. These depictions show musicians, drinkers, and dancing people and combine Persian pictorial traditions with Mediterranean motifs in a Christian space.
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