The
Palazzo dei Normanni (in English,
Palace of the Normans) or
Royal Palace of Palermo is a palace in Palermo, Italy. It was the seat of the Kings of Sicily during the Norman
domination and served afterwards as the main seat of power for the subsequent rulers of Sicily. Today it is the seat of the regional parliament of Sicily. The building is the oldest royal residence in Europe, the home of the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily and imperial seat with Frederick II and Conrad IV.
The
Palatine Chapel (Italian:
Cappella Palatina), is the royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily situated on the ground floor at the center of the Palazzo
Reale in Palermo, southern Italy.
Also referred to as a
Palace church or
Palace chapel, it was commissioned by Roger
II
of
Sicily in 1132 to be built upon an older chapel (now the crypt) constructed around 1080. It took eight years to build, receiving a royal charter the same year, with the mosaics being only partially finished by 1143. The sanctuary, dedicated to Saint
Peter, is reminiscent of a domed basilica. It has three apses, as is usu.l in Byzantine
architecture, with six pointed arches (three on each side of the central nave) resting on recycled classical columns.
