Gothic art, divided into Early Gothic, from 1150 to 1250, High Gothic, from 1250 to 1375, and International Gothic, from 1375 to the first decades of the 15th century, is the connecting period between Romanesque and Renaissance art. The Gothic style influenced architecture, sculpture and the minor a...

The antefix is a decorative element first used in Greek temple architecture and later in Etruscan-Italic and Roman architecture. The decorative elements could be taken from the mythical, animal or plant worlds. Placed high up, in a prominent position, on the heads of the roof beams, it could be made...

A load-bearing architectural element with a curved shape, the arch rests its weight on the piers. The trilobe arch is an arch with a decoration with three final lobes, almost in the shape of a clover or other plant. Consisting of three small arches, it is widely used in Eastern architecture....

In architecture, the cymatium is the uppermost, curved, projecting part of a cornice. From the Greek word κυμάτιον, meaning small wave, it was originally not an element of the cornice, but of the roof and was made of clay, decorated with lion heads and plant motifs. Later it became, instead,...

The crown, three gold rings with precious stones and a plaque, found in the tomb of Frederick II's first wife, Constance of Aragon, are kept in the Cathedral Treasury rooms. The crown made in the Royal Palace of Palermo’s workshop. Dating from before 1222, the date of the queen's death, the work c...

The apse, from the Latin absis, meaning arch, appears as a semi-cylindrical or polygonal structure and is present in both public buildings and churches. Usually, in churches, it concludes the main nave, beyond the presbytery, or the two side aisles and symbolises the privileged place where the prese...

The large choir chapel, at the time of its creation, merged the environment of the Titulus with the main apse and disconnected that of the Antititulus, isolating the prothesis and the diaconicon. In fact, as is customary, the Titulo and Antititulo were present in the Sanctuary area of the ancient No...

The Chapel of Saint Rosalia, in the southern apse, houses the remains of Saint Rosalia, the Patron Saint of Palermo. Through the brass gate and behind the silver altar, the very precious silver reliquary urn can be found. Made in 1631 by silversmiths Giuseppe Oliveri, Francesco Rivelo, Giancola Vivi...

In the northern apse of the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, entirely decorated with gilded stucco. The centrepiece of the chapel is the altar made entirely of lapis lazuli, an expression of the Baroque era, dated 1653 and designed by the architect and sculptor Cosimo Fonsaga (Fanza...

In the Latin cross layout, the nave and transept are of different lengths, while in the Greek cross layout the “arms” are equal in length. The transept, in fact, intersecting the longitudinal nave at right angles, gives the church its classic layout. The point of intersection, called the cross,...