Description
The Cuba, also called the Castle or Palace of the Cuba, is an Arab-Norman pleasure pavilion built in 1180 for King William II, in the Cuba-Calatafimi district of Palermo. A rectangular stone building with tall arches, built to enjoy the cool in the midst of water.
The name comes from the Arabic qubba, "dome". It stood at the center of a large royal park, the Genoardo, from the Arabic name meaning "paradise on earth", part of the Sollazzi Regi, the pleasure palaces of the Norman court around the city.
Today the Cuba looks like a somewhat awkward tower, with its large opening on the north side at an inexplicable height. There is an explanation: all around was an artificial lake almost two and a half meters deep, and the window looked out over the water.
The king and the court came here by day to rest in the cool of fountains and citrus gardens, and in the evening for parties and ceremonies. The thick walls and few windows kept the heat out, while the larger openings faced the cool sea winds.
Inside, three aligned, communicating rooms. At the center remain the remains of a marble fountain, typical of Arab buildings, and the muqarnas, the half-dome decorations of the central hall. Outside, the ogival arches that adorn the walls.
Along the edge of the roof runs an inscription in Arabic in Kufic script. It announces: "You will see the excellent chamber of the excellent among the kings of all the earth, William II, Christian king". A Christian king celebrated in Arabic, a sign of the tolerance of the Norman court.
The inscription had been scattered and was found in the 1800s by Michele Amari, the greatest scholar of Arab and Norman Sicily, digging at the foot of the building. A fragment is on display in a side room.
Then the lake was drained and pavilions were built on its banks, used as a lazaretto from the plague of 1576 to 1621. The palace also lodged Burgundian mercenaries. The restoration, which brought to light the thirteenth-century structures, began in the 1980s.
The Cuba traveled far in literature: Boccaccio set here the sixth tale of the fifth day of the Decameron, the love between Gian di Procida and Restituta, a girl from Ischia kidnapped to be given to the King of Sicily.
The name comes from the Arabic qubba, "dome". It stood at the center of a large royal park, the Genoardo, from the Arabic name meaning "paradise on earth", part of the Sollazzi Regi, the pleasure palaces of the Norman court around the city.
Today the Cuba looks like a somewhat awkward tower, with its large opening on the north side at an inexplicable height. There is an explanation: all around was an artificial lake almost two and a half meters deep, and the window looked out over the water.
The king and the court came here by day to rest in the cool of fountains and citrus gardens, and in the evening for parties and ceremonies. The thick walls and few windows kept the heat out, while the larger openings faced the cool sea winds.
Inside, three aligned, communicating rooms. At the center remain the remains of a marble fountain, typical of Arab buildings, and the muqarnas, the half-dome decorations of the central hall. Outside, the ogival arches that adorn the walls.
Along the edge of the roof runs an inscription in Arabic in Kufic script. It announces: "You will see the excellent chamber of the excellent among the kings of all the earth, William II, Christian king". A Christian king celebrated in Arabic, a sign of the tolerance of the Norman court.
The inscription had been scattered and was found in the 1800s by Michele Amari, the greatest scholar of Arab and Norman Sicily, digging at the foot of the building. A fragment is on display in a side room.
Then the lake was drained and pavilions were built on its banks, used as a lazaretto from the plague of 1576 to 1621. The palace also lodged Burgundian mercenaries. The restoration, which brought to light the thirteenth-century structures, began in the 1980s.
The Cuba traveled far in literature: Boccaccio set here the sixth tale of the fifth day of the Decameron, the love between Gian di Procida and Restituta, a girl from Ischia kidnapped to be given to the King of Sicily.