\nThe capital city of Sicily, Palermo, \u00a0is situated around a bay at the western edge of the Conca d’Oro and at the foot of Mount Pellegrino. The most important monuments date back to Norman times and create a \u00a0set of exceptional artistic value for the peculiar fusion of Byzantine, Arab and Latin elements. To the era of Roger II belongs \u00a0the Royal Palace, in whose \u00a0centre \u00a0stands the Palatine Chapel covered \u00a0with marble slabs and beautiful Byzantine mosaics. But the atmosphere of this capital, among different cultures, where South meets North, is alive in the places of the ancient city, among monuments, lifestyles, markets and landscapes. Idrisi fell in love with it \u00a0and considered it one of the most beautiful cities of the time.<\/p>\n
The Royal Palace and the Palatine Chapel <\/em> UNESCO site Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefal\u00f9 and Monreale 2) MONREALE<\/strong> Cathedral of Monreale <\/em> 3) CEFAL\u00d9<\/strong> (http:\/\/palermoarabonormanna.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n 4) PATTI<\/strong> (www.cattedralepatti.it<\/a>)<\/p>\n 5) MILAZZO<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo: Francesco Romagnolo<\/p><\/div>\n The Normans chose the colony founded by the people of Messina as fortress cornerstone of the coast, in fact \u00a0Frederick II of Swabia in person planned its \u00a0creation. \u00a0The visit can start from the ancient fortress and the castle of Frederick II, surrounded by walls. Inside it is worth a stop at \u00a0the Hall of Parliament.<\/p>\n (www.milazzo.info<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6) ACI CASTELLO<\/strong> (www.comune.acicastello.ct.it<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 7) NOTO<\/strong> (http:\/\/valdinoto.it<\/a>)<\/p>\n 8) MAZARA DEL VALLO<\/strong> (www.mazaraweb.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n 9) MARSALA<\/strong> (www.marsalaturismo.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n 10)TRAPANI <\/strong> A route which narrates in a significantly way Sicily as an island, \u00a0is the one \u00a0linked to the figure of the Arab geographer al-Idrisi, one of the greatest geographers in the history and editor of the book of Roger, a detailed account of Sicily in the Arab-Norman period and reference for a today’s trip to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fenici.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(www.federicosecondo.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n(http:\/\/palermoarabonormanna.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n![\"palermo-_chiostro_duomo_monreale-300x199\"](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Palermo._Chiostro_Duomo_Monreale-300x199-1.jpg\")
<\/a>High on the Conca d’Oro, the Cathedral of Monreale is the apex of Arab-Norman art. Founded in 1174 by William II was later\u00a0 joined by a Benedictine monastery. Enclosed by two massive towers, the building is worldwide famous for its sumptuous interior, with golden mosaics representing episodes from the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
\n(http:\/\/palermoarabonormanna.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n![\"cefalu-03-300x169\"](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cefalu.03-300x169-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Built on a promontory dominated by an overhanging cliff, \u00a0halfway between Palermo and Capo d’Orlando, the city \u00a0retains its antique aspect \u00a0around the Norman Cathedral built by Roger II of Sicily. Particularly fascinating is the fishing village, with ancient houses overlooking the sea, and the long sandy beach, one of the most beautiful of the whole northern coast.<\/p>\n
\nIn one of the stretches where the coastal landscape is more charming, just past the Rocky mass of \u00a0Calav\u00e0 Cape, here rises \u00a0Patti, \u00a0halfway up overlooking the sea. Feud of \u00a0Ruggero d’Altavilla, the city retains a Cathedral of the \u00a0eighteenth-century built on the foundations of a Norman Church. Inside, \u00a0\u00a0there is the sarcophagus of Queen Adelaide, wife of Roger, who died in Patti in 1118.<\/p>\n![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/milazzo-295x300-1.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n![\"ct_acicastello-300x225\"](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/CT_Acicastello-300x225-1.png\")
<\/a>The name of this ancient fishing village comes from the Norman castle which stands on the top of \u00a0a basalt rock jutting out into the sea. Some rooms\u00a0 host \u00a0the town museum \u00a0with archaeological and natural collections of the \u00a0Etna area. The cliff has also a small botanical garden.<\/p>\n
\n![\"noto-300x188\"](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/noto-300x188-1.jpg\")
<\/a>The city, UNESCO World Heritage, expands around the main axis formed by the modern viale Marconi, which becomes corso Vittorio Emanuele at the monumental Porta Reale or Ferdinandea ( The Royal Gate). \u00a0The triumph of the Baroque, in the city , is unique and a visit to the main monuments is a source of constant surprises. The city told by Idrisi can not be \u00a0see anymore , since it was the ancient Noto, \u00a0but the landscapes remain \u00a0still unique.<\/p>\n
\n![\"mazara-del-vallo-300x231\"](\"https:\/\/fenici.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/mazara-del-vallo-300x231-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Overlooking the sea, at the mouth of the Mazaro River, the city was \u00a0conquered by Roger in 1073. In Piazza Mokarta there are \u00a0the remains of a Moorish Castle and behind it there stands the medieval cathedral. The ancient \u00a0city centre \u00a0is represented by the Kasbah, a urban structure characterized by a multitude of narrow, winding streets to better defend against Sun, wind and\u00a0 enemy attacks, blind alleys flanked by typical Arabic style courtyards. Inside the Museum of the Satyr there is displayed a bronze statue representing a Dancing Satyr fished out in 1998 by a fishing boat . Mazara is now a multiethnic and Mediterranean city par excellence. The landscapes of Idrisi in the contemporary Sicily.<\/p>\n
\nThe regular city plan respects the design of the Roman city, while the irregular roads come from the Arabs that conquered it in 830. The city centre is Piazza della Repubblica (Republic Square) which is delimited by the Senatorial Palace and the Cathedral \u00a0dedicated to Saint Thomas of Canterbury.\u00a0 Its name comes from Marsa Allah, the port of \u00a0Allah. Its covered market brings us back to lost atmospheres \u00a0and to a Mediterranean of trading and exchanges that from the Phoenicians to the Arabs and to \u00a0the British of the eighteenth century have seen \u00a0Marsala as a protagonist. Without forgetting the wine, renowned all over the world, and the wineries of ancient traditions.<\/p>\n
\nPlaced between a beautiful blue sea and mount Erice, there rises \u00a0Trapani, the city of the two seas, so named because it lays \u00a0on a promontory and is wetted \u00a0at \u00a0all three sides by the sea. ‘Drepanon’<\/em>, \u00a0this is its ancient name, \u00a0was initially\u00a0 a Sican village and then it became \u00a0a small fortified town, where for centuries have lived fishermen, traders, artisans of different populations. With the Arabs, who called it \u00a0Itr\u00e0binis, it became \u00a0an important city and among its children the famous Arab poet Abd ar-Rahman al-Itrabanishi, also he was at the Court of King Roger II. Essence of the place is its cultural connection with the Maghreb, it is not a \u00a0coincidence that the cous cous is here a typical local dish.\u00a0\u00a0 (www.turismotrapani.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"