Above the rooftops of Palermo

by Silva Wischeropp

This enchanting architectural photo of the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti was taken on 17 July 2019 with the Nikon D90 (lens: SIGMA 18.0-70.0 mm f/3.5-4.5) during my summer trip to the historic city centre of the Sicilian capital Palermo.

St John the Hermit. Via dei Benedettini, 18.
The church, whose origins date back to the 1880s, was converted into a mosque and rebuilt by order of Ruggero II. It was remodelled for Christian worship in the Norman period (XNUMXth century). Over the centuries it has undergone many changes, the last in XNUMX by the architect Giuseppe Patricolo. The church is characterised by its red domes, which lean with one side against a front square body (perhaps a mosque). It consists of a Latin cross divided into square sections, on each of which rests a hemisphere. The presbytery, which ends in a niche, is surmounted by a dome, like those of the two square bodies that flank it, the left one of which rises to form a bell tower. Inside there is an Arab cistern and a cloister with a garden in which columns are paired with acanthus leaf capitals.

The largest island in Italy is the sunny island of Sicily. It is surrounded by three seas: the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Ionian Sea in the east and the Mediterranean Sea in the south.
Palermo has spruced itself up! As the capital of Sicily, Palermo was named Italian Capital of Culture in 2018 and this status has helped Palermo to transform itself. Today, Palermo's historic centre is home to a pretty pedestrian zone where chaos and traffic once reigned. Palermo surprises with great sights that you should take a few days to see.