Description
The Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi is a small Norman church in the Settecannoli neighborhood, in the south of Palermo, near the Ponte dell'Ammiraglio over the Oreto River. It was built in 1071, during the Norman conquest, on the ruins of an Arab castle.
Outside it is a plain block of squared stone, with small windows and a bell tower over the porch, topped by a little red dome like the one over the crossing. Inside, three naves on pillars and a wooden ceiling; on the arch of the crossing hangs a 15th-century painted crucifix.
Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script run along the capitals of the corner columns. It may be the oldest Latin-cross church in Palermo. The name recalls the leper hospital William I founded here in the 12th century; later, during the plagues, it served as a lazaretto.
Outside it is a plain block of squared stone, with small windows and a bell tower over the porch, topped by a little red dome like the one over the crossing. Inside, three naves on pillars and a wooden ceiling; on the arch of the crossing hangs a 15th-century painted crucifix.
Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script run along the capitals of the corner columns. It may be the oldest Latin-cross church in Palermo. The name recalls the leper hospital William I founded here in the 12th century; later, during the plagues, it served as a lazaretto.