I would like to start this blog with one of the most outstanding places I have ever been to: the Palatine Chapel (in Italian: Cappella Palatina).

The church, which is also registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is  part of the Palazzo Reale in Palermo and it has been commissioned by the Norman king Roger II of Sicily as a private royal chapel in 1132. The chapel itself is considered one of the brightest (quite literally!) example of Sicilian cultural melting-pot as many elements of Normans architecture (such as the door), jointly with Arabic (such as the muqarnas, the arches and some inscriptions on the roof) and Byzantine ones were put together in building  the chapel.

I will not focus too much on the artistic and architectural elements in the detail, as I am not an expert and it is not the purpose of my storytelling. However I would like to express how I felt when I got in for the first time.

As I was climbing the Palazzo Reale’s stairs I was really not prepared for what I was going to experience. I saw many pictures of the chapel in the past, during my art classes at school, but believe me when I say that no picture can really show you the light and the brightness of thousand golden pieces once you step through the door.

The moment you enter the chapel, you are aware of being in front of a timeless masterpiece: being the church fully decorated, your eyes do not know where to focus first, as one detail after another unfold in front of your eyes: over there, an angel and over there those characters sounds like they are telling you a story, while it seems that the Christ Pantocrator is looking straight at you and look! those muqarnas up there resemble a beehive!

I remember that at the very beginning I could not even notice the million pieces of golden, blue and other shining colors covering every surface. They are very tiny little pieces put together into making a far bigger picture. It certainly required the focus, work and patience of many hands who put these pieces together one by one in creating every single decoration.

It is a beauty you can hardly forget, a true shining jewel at the heart of Palermo.