The Chapel of the Royal Tombs, inside the Palermo Cathedral, houses the tombs of the Norman first king of Sicily, Roger II
, Constance of Hauteville
and Henry VI of Swabia
and their son Frederick II
, together with his first wife Constance of Aragon
. Frederick II’s first wife, Constance of Aragon, daughter of Peter of Aragon, rests in a white marble sarcophagus from the late Antiquity period. The sarcophagus, built into the right wall of the Chapel of the Royal Tombs, has a gable decoration with an exciting hunting scene and a sloping roof. The tomb also bears an inscription identifying the queen, who died in Catania in 1222: “Sicanie regina fui Constantia coniux augusta hic habito nunc Federice tua”. The interior of the tomb was inspected in 1491 at the behest of Viceroy Ferdinand de Acuña. Numerous jewels were found, which are now kept in the Cathedral treasury: the sumptuous crown, crafted in Palermo Tiraz, five rings and a silver plaque.
The sarcophagi, used as burial places by Henry VI and Frederick II
, were carved reusing elements of red porphyry
, a symbol of royalty, copied from ancient specimens and coming from Rome, where Islamic craftsmen, originally from Egypt and Constantinople, specialised in working the particular material. The two sarcophagi, intended to be placed in Cefalù Cathedral
, were commissioned by Roger II
, before 1145: one to hold his mortal remains and the other, to be left empty, “for the greater glory of God”.
After the King’s death in 1154, his wishes were not respected as Frederick II had them transferred to the Palermo Cathedral, allocating one for himself and the other for his father, Henry VI. The location of the group of tombs was originally in the area known as the “Cemetery of Kings”, on the right-hand side of the Cathedral Presbytery, opposite the “Cemetery of Bishops”. Its current location is the result of a number of transformations which begun in the last decades of the 18th century. They were designed by Ferdinando Fuga
and then completed in a more incisive way by the architect Venanzio Marvuglia
. The changes mainly affected the side chapels and the Sanctuary where the Titulo
and Antititulo
were dismantled. If the latter was the transversal space, the Titulo, on the other hand, included the choir, the space dedicated to the tombs of kings and bishops. The restorations that erased these two areas led to the creation of a transept with a dome in the centre and an extension of the choir to the main apse, where a large central chapel was created. The sarcophagi were then moved to the present-day Chapel of the Royal Tombs. The Chapel of the Royal Tombs, inside the Palermo Cathedral, houses the tombs of the Norman Roger II, first king of Sicily, Constance of Hauteville and Henry VI of Swabia and their son Frederick II, together with his first wife Constance of Aragon. Four sarcophagi are placed in corresponding areas of the chapel, with those of Roger II and Constance of Hauteville in the background, and the funerary monuments of Frederick II and Henry VI in the foreground. The sarcophagi, used as burial places by Henry VI and Frederick II, were carved using elements of red porphyry. The two sarcophagi, intended to be placed in the Cefalù Cathedral, were commissioned by (app. historical figure) Roger II, before 1145: one to hold his mortal remains and the other, to be left empty, ‘for the greater glory of God’. After the King’s death in 1154, his wishes were not respected as Frederick II had them transferred to the Palermo Cathedral, allocating one for himself and the other for his father. The two sarcophagi have grey marble and porphyry slab roofs, supported by six porphyry columns. The entablature of the canopy covering the emperor’s sarcophagus contains anthropomorphic protomes. The first King of Sicily rests in a tomb, with a rectangular case, covered with red porphyry slabs and a sloping lid, supported by a sculptural group of four male figures. Queen and Empress Constance of Hauteville lies in a red porphyry sarcophagus bearing the epitaph “Romanorum imperatrix, semper augusta et regina Siciliae”. Both sarcophagi are surmounted by marble canopies; those for Roger II and Constance of Hauteville are in white marble, supported by columns decorated with mosaics with geometric motifs, together with the entablature.
The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral
The Kings’ Cathedrals
Squaring the circle
The stone bible
The Chapel of the Kings
The architectural modifications ti the cathedral building after the death of Roger II and the transformations of the cloister
A palimpsest of history
Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power
The area of the Sanctuary
Interior decorations
Under the crosses of the Bema
The cultural substrate through time
The links between the hauteville family and the monastic orders in Sicily
The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy
Mosaic decoration
A compositional design that combines nordic examples with new artistic languages, over the centuries
The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history
The senses tell Context 1
The decorated facade
The chapel of the crucifix: an artistic casket based on a previous model
Two initially similar towers, varied over time
The balance between architecture and light
From the main gate to the aisles: an invitation to a journey of faith
The chapel of St. Benedict
The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work
A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content
The paradisiacal “Conca d’oro” that embraces Palermo: a name with countless faces through time
Artistic elements in Peter’s ship
Ecclesia munita
Roger II’s strategic design
The Cathedral over the centuries
The transformations of the hall through the centuries
The king’s mark
A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety
Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses
The Bible carved in stone
A tree full of life
The Virgin Hodegetria
Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God
A controversial interpretation
A Northern population
The lost chapel
The Cefalù cathedral: a construction yard undergoing a change between a surge of faith and control over the territory
The southern portico
Biblical themes enlivened by the dazzling light of the stained – glass windows overlooking the naves
A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations
The beginning of the construction site
Transformations over the centuries
Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period
The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
The columns of the nave: the meticulous study of the overall order
The longest aisle
Tempus fugit: a strategic project implemented in a short period of time
Palermo: the happiest city
Worship services
Thirteenth-century iconography decorates the nave’s wooden ceiling, designed with new solutions
The marble portal: an intimate dialogue between complex ornamental aspects and formal structure
The original design
The side Portico: a combination of elegance and lightness of form
The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex
The towers facing the facade used as bell towers
Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo
The mosaics of the apses
A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries
The rediscovered chapel
The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral
The towers and the western facade
The plasticism of the main portico and Bonanno Pisano’s Monumental Bronze Door
The Great Restoration
Survey of the royal tombs
A remarkable ceiling
Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily
The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon
The mosaics of the presbytery
Cefalù: settlement evidence through time
Beyond the harmony of proportions
The chystro: a place between earth and sky
A space between the visible and the invisible
The side aisles
MiC – Ministero della Cultura
Legge 77/2006 - Misure Speciali di Tutela e Fruizione dei Siti Italiani di Interesse Culturale, Paesaggistico e Ambientale, inseriti nella “Lista Del Patrimonio Mondiale”, posti sotto la Tutela dell’ UNESCO Regione Siciliana.
Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana.
Parco archeologico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento.
,
Constance of Hauteville
and
Henry VI of Swabia
, a symbol of royalty, copied from ancient specimens and coming from Rome, where Islamic craftsmen, originally from Egypt and Constantinople, specialised in working the particular material. The two sarcophagi, intended to be placed in
Cefalù Cathedral
and
Antititulo
