In the Zisa Palace, the marble shādirwānis the chute with steps and opus sectile decorations through which water, coming from below the mosaics, flowed into the large outdoor pools. Of Islamic and generally oriental descent, the sloping slide of the shādirwāncreated wonderful shimmering reflecti...

The Gabriele, or Cariopele, is one of Palermo's rivers. Portrayed as a mature man in the Piazza Pretoria fountain, its source, on the slopes of Mount Caputo, consists of four streams running close together: Gabriel, Nixio, Campofranco and Cuba. The waters of the Gabriele fed the Zisa, the Cuba and r...

Tuff is one of the most widely used pyroclastic rocks as a building material since ancient times. Under the name "tuff", various soft limestone rocks with similar characteristics are combined. One of the special features of tuff is its lightness and its ability to be easily worked, sawn and moulded....

The vault is a type of architectural roof with a thrust structure. It can be as simple as a barrel vault, which is a semi-circular roof made of brick, stone or stuccoed lintel, usually used as a ceiling for rectangular rooms. The vault can also be composed like the cross vault, a characteristic ele...

The Belice earthquake occurred on the night of 14-15 January 1968. With a magnitude of 6.4, it struck the entire Belice Valley and the provinces of Trapani, Agrigento and Palermo. There were around 200 victims, with almost a thousand injured and 90,000 displaced. The towns most affected and almost c...

A feudal family of the Sicilian aristocracy, the Notarbartolo di Sciara family settled in Zisa in 1808, after the death of the last Sandoval heir. The palace remained in the hands of the Notarbartolo family until the middle of the 20th century, when it was expropriated by the Sicilian Region....

The word solarium comes from solis, meaning sun. In Roman villas and houses, it was the open space, exposed to sunlight or air. Therefore, it could take the form of an open terrace or loggia....

A Spanish family of royal origin, the Sandovals were descended from the kings of León. At the end of the 14th century, one branch settled in Naples while another settled in Sicily. The Sandoval family acquired the Zisa Palace in the 17th century and carried out a series of transformations and renov...

Tuff is one of the most widely used pyroclastic rocks as a building material since ancient times. Under the name "tuff", various soft limestone rocks with similar characteristics are combined. One of the special features of tuff is its lightness and its ability to be easily worked, sawn and moulded....

Muqarnas is an ornamental decoration typical of Islamic architecture, mostly found in the vaults of buildings. Also known as the alveoli or stalactite decoration, they were also used in the domes, niches and doorways. They became more widespread from the 12th century onwards and could be made of a v...