“The buildings constituting the property of ‘Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale’ is a material example of coexistence, interaction and interchange between different cultural components of historical and geographic heterogeneous origin.
This syncretism has generated an original architectural and artistic style, of exceptional universal value, in which Byzantine, Islamic and Latin elements are admirably fused, capable each time to be produced unique combinations of exceptional artistic value an extraordinarily unitary.
The Arab-Norman syncretism had a strong impact in the Middle Ages, significantly contributing to the formation of a Mediterranean koinè, a fundamental condition for the development of modern Mediterranean-European civilization”.
The eight towns in south-eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli, were all rebuilt after 1693 on or beside towns existing at the time of the earthquake which took place in that year. They represent a considerable collective undertaking, successfully carried out at a high level of architectural and artistic achievement. Keeping within the late Baroque style of the day, they also depict distinctive innovations in town planning and urban building.
Itinerary
