PALAZZO DEI NORMANNI AND PALATINE CHAPEL, Palatine Chapel 1

After you cross the monumental courtyard with its three light, airy loggias, built in the 17th century under the Viceroy Maqueda, and take the monumental staircase up to the loggia on the first floor, you’ll find the Palatine Chapel.

It was built for Roger II between 1130, the year of his coronation, and 1140, when it was consecrated as a private oratory inside the Royal Palace.

The entrance, divided into three spans of arches supported by columns, originally linked the chapel to the royal apartments. Two magnificent doors with bronze panels lead into the hall. The moment you enter, you’ll realize this is a masterpiece of medieval art, and indeed the most extraordinary combination of Arab and Western art that has survived to this day: architecture, mosaics, furnishings, marble inlay work and a carved, painted ceiling, all in perfect harmony, create the unforgettable sensation of being in a world of miraculous beauty.

Rather than a chapel, this is actually a proper church, divided into three naves and with three apses, with a raised altar area and topped with a dome....