Palermo S. Cataldo Beginning of the second half of the XII century

    This church was probably built by Admiral Maione da Bari. It has some assonances with the little Byzantine churches of Puglia, however it appears like the natural compositional development, completed in a syncretic manner, between the Byzantine centred-plan with three apses and the western basilica-like plan, which had its premises in monuments that can be dated between the County and the Kingdom (see Castelvecchio Siculo). Along the longitudinal axis, the three typically centred modules covered with cupolas are close together (see Trinita’ del Delia). From the outside, its sober appearance is enlivened by the lancet splayed arches. The epigraph has a ‘crinelage’ of Arabic type, unlike the western type crenellations existing in some previous churches.

Vittorio Noto

Bibliography
Guido Di Stefano, "Monumenti della Sicilia Normanna", Palermo, 1979

Photography
Melo Minnella Palermo