Ibn Jubayr visited the city of Palermo between December 1184 and January 1185. The traveller and writer was born in Valencia in 1145. After studying religious sciences and literature, he devoted himself to travelling to: Ceuta, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Egypt, Arabian Peninsula, Baghdad, Mosul, Alepp...

The Maredolce park falls within the Parco Vecchio (Old Park), in the southern countryside of the Palermo plain, and is home to the Favara castle. The origin of the castle is controversial, however, as it may have been a new building commissioned by Roger or simply a restoration of pre-existing archi...

From the Arabic word “saqiya”, saie were used for channelling water and took the form of a very dense network of pipes and channels that brought water up to the surface. The saie were also required for irrigation. ...

Collection systems that were used to create artificial water sources. They took the form of a series of underground tunnels draining, transporting and distributing water from the water table to the surface. Qanāt are also present in the Altofonte Park and the Genoard Park. ...

The Carolingian renaissance was a period of artistic, cultural and political renewal that took place most notably during the reign of Charlemagne. The sovereign adopted the customs and traditions of the ancient emperors, especially Augustus and the Christian Constantine, and tried to implement refor...

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 civic coat of arms, likely featuring a golden eagle on a red background, could refer to the House of Aragon, as these two colours are part of the royal coat of arms of the house under Alfonso II (1162/1196). The eagle, on the other hand, is reminiscent of the Hohenstaufen eagle, which was used b...

References to the colours gold and red, originating from the Roman-Byzantine period and present in the heraldic tradition of Palermo, are also found in Medieval Islam. A description of the Sicilian fleet mentions galleys "with red and yellow felts"....

The word dāra, referring to the “basin”, may derive from the Arabic word dāra which literally means “any land extending between mountains” or more precisely “an empty stretch of land, surrounded by mountains”. Dāra is thus an irregular, flat space and certainly rich in vegetation. A w...

The sculpture of the Genius of Palermo is located in the Praetorian Palace. It was probably part of a complex, possibly a fountain in the Praetorian Palace commissioned by the praetor Pietro Speciale and made by Domenico Gagini and Gabriele di Battista. The Genius appears as a bearded man with a cro...