Description
San Cataldo is a small 12th-century Norman church next to Piazza Bellini, in Palermo's historic center. It is one of the iconic images of medieval Palermo: a sandstone cube crowned by three red domes, with blind arches in Islamic taste. Since 2015 it has been part of UNESCO's Arab-Norman itinerary.
From outside, the contrast is striking: compact, severe sandstone walls, softened by blind arcades and pierced windows, and above them three hemispherical red domes, one behind the other. The red is a 19th-century choice, and it makes the domes stand out against the pale stone.
Inside the layout is simple: three short aisles divided by columns, with the central nave marked out by the sequence of the three small domes. The marble, porphyry and serpentine inlaid floor largely keeps its original design and is among the church's most precious details.
On an inside wall, near the entrance, is the inscription for little Matilda, buried here in 1161. At the apses, on the marble columns in the corners, the capitals bear the cross symbol of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, who restored the church in 1937 and returned it to worship.
It was most probably Maio of Bari, grand admiral of King William I, who commissioned it in the mid-12th century. It was the chapel of his palace. His Apulian origin would explain both the dedication to Saint Cataldus, bishop of Taranto, and perhaps the three domes in a row.
In 1160 Maio was assassinated and his properties sold. From 1182 the church was granted to the archbishop of Monreale. Over the centuries, especially after Via Maqueda was cut through, the chapel was almost swallowed up by new buildings and ended up incorporated into the Royal Post Office building: in 1867 it served as an office for sorting mail.
It was freed by the architect Giuseppe Patricolo, who in 1882 led a radical restoration: the work was finished in early 1885. The church was freed on all sides and brought back to its Norman look, with a configuration that perhaps it never had in its history.
After the bombings of 1943 a 17th-century building that hid the side facing Via Maqueda was demolished. In the open space that appeared at the foot of the church a fragment of the city's Punic walls resurfaced.
Don't miss
• The three red domes.
• The inlaid floor.
• The inscription for little Matilda.
• The Punic walls.
Did you know?
• The red of the domes is a 19th-century invention: it was Patricolo's choice.
• Since 1937 the church has been entrusted to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
From outside, the contrast is striking: compact, severe sandstone walls, softened by blind arcades and pierced windows, and above them three hemispherical red domes, one behind the other. The red is a 19th-century choice, and it makes the domes stand out against the pale stone.
Inside the layout is simple: three short aisles divided by columns, with the central nave marked out by the sequence of the three small domes. The marble, porphyry and serpentine inlaid floor largely keeps its original design and is among the church's most precious details.
On an inside wall, near the entrance, is the inscription for little Matilda, buried here in 1161. At the apses, on the marble columns in the corners, the capitals bear the cross symbol of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, who restored the church in 1937 and returned it to worship.
It was most probably Maio of Bari, grand admiral of King William I, who commissioned it in the mid-12th century. It was the chapel of his palace. His Apulian origin would explain both the dedication to Saint Cataldus, bishop of Taranto, and perhaps the three domes in a row.
In 1160 Maio was assassinated and his properties sold. From 1182 the church was granted to the archbishop of Monreale. Over the centuries, especially after Via Maqueda was cut through, the chapel was almost swallowed up by new buildings and ended up incorporated into the Royal Post Office building: in 1867 it served as an office for sorting mail.
It was freed by the architect Giuseppe Patricolo, who in 1882 led a radical restoration: the work was finished in early 1885. The church was freed on all sides and brought back to its Norman look, with a configuration that perhaps it never had in its history.
After the bombings of 1943 a 17th-century building that hid the side facing Via Maqueda was demolished. In the open space that appeared at the foot of the church a fragment of the city's Punic walls resurfaced.
Don't miss
• The three red domes.
• The inlaid floor.
• The inscription for little Matilda.
• The Punic walls.
Did you know?
• The red of the domes is a 19th-century invention: it was Patricolo's choice.
• Since 1937 the church has been entrusted to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.