Sicily is not just the crossroads of western world civilization; it is its very roundabout and Palermo is at the centre. Founded by the Phoenicians, it became part of the Carthaginian Empire until Rome’s conquest. After the fall of  Rome Palermo  became part of the Byzantine Empire. It then joined the Arab world until conquered by the Normans who raised the city to its greatest heights of magnificence as capital of Sicily under King Ruggiero II. Spain subsequently ruled the city until it became part of the kingdom of the two Sicilies under the Bourbon dynasty.  Even the British had a hand in the island’s history: Nelson was proclaimed Duke of Bronte, a town on the slopes of Mount Etna. and Woodhouse established Marsala as a centre for fine wine equalling (if not surpassing) port and sherry. Eventually in 1860 Garibaldi appeared on the scene with his ‘thousand’ expedition conquering the island for the Savoy king Victor Emmanuel II who, in 1861, became the first king of the newly unified kingdom of Italy..

Sicily, however, never quite saw itself truly as part of a new Italian nation, a major theme in  that masterpiece of a novel, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’ . The independence movement was transmuted by government propaganda into brigandage. Unscrupulous groups took advantage of the unrest and by the 1920’s the notorious mafia had established itself as an international criminal organization controlled in large part from the USA.

The Second World War did not help; operation Husky signalled the onset of the retaking of Italy from Axis forces and Palermo suffered greatly from Allied bombardments.  Unrest followed in the post-war years and the mafia was central in the further demolition of beautiful villas and the cementification of orchards and parks with their replacement by abusive concrete monstrosities right up until the 1980’s in the interests of land speculation. Meanwhile, the historic centre of Palermo was left to rack and ruin and its panoply of supreme examples of ancient architecture neglected.

The assassination of the highly respected judge Falcone in 1992 by the mafia helped to concentrate the mind of the authorities upon endemic corruption and extortion  and I have every hope that Palermo will once again regain its position as one of the most beautiful cities in the world with its equable climate, its stupendous setting and its marvellous churches and villas.

Driving from the airport on our hired car we spotted this monument marking the place where the great judge Falcone and his agents were blown up by the mafia in the ‘strage di Capaci’ of 1992.

Palermo needs more than just the two days we had to enjoy it. However, it’s still possible to get the feel of this amazing city. After we’d booked into our hotel near the centre we decided to take a sortie around the Sicily and walked to Ballarò, Palermo’s historic market.

As in much of Sicily we were constantly stunned by the juxtaposition of magnificence and squalor. I was reminded of a similar feeling when in India. Yet walking in the multi-ethnicity of these quarters by night I was entranced by the friendliness we met and felt rather safer than we have done in, say, London’s New Cross.

The following day we visited the Norman palace, the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The palace is the oldest royal residence in Europe, home to the kings of the Kingdom of Sicily, the imperial seat with Frederick II and Conrad IV and the historic Sicilian Parliament. We were cordially shown round the assembly chamber and the inner courtyard.

The palace’s highlight, however, is its royal chapel – a stunning piece of Arab-byzantine-Norman architecture, the likes of which I had never quite seen anywhere else before. This breathtakingly beautiful building was started in 1129 at the command of King Roger II of Sicily, and 1140 became the private chapel of the royal family.

The Cappella Palatina combines three main strands of architecture. Byzantine in the mosaics:

Norman in the arches:

And Arabic in the ceiling niches known as Muqarnas:

and which I had ever only come across when I visited the ladies’ mosque in Isfahan, Iran.

Palermo’s Royal Chapel is truly one of the most ecstatic places I have ever seen in my life. No wonder it is a UNESCO world heritage site!

The elaborate cosmatesque work of the floor is yet another extraordinary feature:

And we still had to see two other similar sites of equally dazzling magnificence….

After just one morning I was already beginning to suffer from ‘Stendhal Syndrome’ which is defined as “a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations, allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects, artworks, or phenomena of great beauty”. Would I make it to see the wonder of Monreale?