Roger, known as the Great Count, was responsible for the conquest of Sicily, together with his brother Robert Guiscard. After the 1061 landing in Messina and the surrender of the city, the Normans invaded the Val Demone almost without difficulty and, with the town of Rometta, many strongholds fell. ...

Sicily was under Arab rule for about two hundred years, from 827 to 1072. During the Arab rule, the island enjoyed a period of economic and cultural prosperity. New cultivation techniques were introduced, water resources were rationalized, mosques were built (it is not by chance that Palermo, the se...

The term “nave” also has a symbolic meaning: it refers to St. Peter's ship/boat (nave in Italian) that welcomes and guides the "people of God", which is why it is covered by a roof that is sometimes keeled. Like an upside-down boat hull. The reference to Peter's boat occurs twice in Matthew's Go...

The area, where the present mosque of Damascus stands, was already a sacred place in Greek times as there was a temple to Zeus, which in Roman times was dedicated to Jupiter. During the Severan dynasty, following some modifications, it became one of the largest areas of worship in Syria. At the end ...

Arab geographer and traveller, Ibn Hawqal was born in Nisibin in 943. After spending his youth in Baghdad, he travelled for about 30 years, even reaching Western India, and in 973 he arrived in Sicily. Upon returning to his home town, he wrote the work Kitāb al-masālik wa l-mamālik, translated a...

The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was founded in 395 when Emperor Theodosius I divided the Roman Empire into two parts: a Western part of Latin culture and an Eastern part of Greek culture. Constantinople, now Istanbul, became the capital. Byzantine art, which was develop...

The Caliphate of Cordoba dates from 929 until 1031, during which time it extended over most of the Iberian Peninsula. The caliphs all came from the Umayyad dynasty. The flourishing Caliphate economy was largely based on trade and craftsmanship, while on a cultural level there was a great openness to...

The Constance of Aragon’s crown, found in the tomb of Frederick II's first wife, was made in the workshop of the Royal Palace in Palermo. Dating from before 1222, the date of the queen's death, the work can be traced back to Norman production due to the refined gold filigree on the cap, the rough ...

In the sarcophagus of Constance, kept in Palermo Cathedral, an endotaffio was also found on a circular silver plate, now on display in the Treasury rooms of the Cathedral. It has an inscription, engraved on 9 lines and reads as follows: Hoc est corpus d(omi)ne / Co(n)sta(n)cie, illustris Roma/no(rum...

The operation, carried out as part of the celebrations for the eighth centenary of the birth of Frederick II (1194 - 1994), was promoted by the Sicilian Region - Regional Department of Cultural Heritage. It was conducted in collaboration with the Central Institute for Restoration in Rome, the Region...