Cappella PalatinaLocated on the first floor of the Palazzo dei Normanni and it was dedicated, by will of Ruggero II as its made clear in a document from 1132, to San Pietro Apostolo, this already before the official document from 1140. The inscription brings the year 1143 on the basis of the dome, which sets a coeval date to the mosaics on the presbytery and leaving , as proved by the stylistic analysis, contemporary to the kingdom of Guglielmo I the mosaics in the naves.
Its the highest example, from an historic and artistic point of view, of the coexistence between cultures, religions and ways of thinking apparently irreconcilable, as Byzantine, Muslim and Latin handcraft masters were involved by the wisely managed power of Ruggero II. The Chapel arose to synthesize the liturgical needs of both the Latin and Greek rituals, proof of this is the Latin plan divided in three naves and the presbytery (byzantine), surmounted by a dome, made exactly according to the most classical byzantine codes.
Interesting is the repetition of this element in the back side bowl of the central abse, where it has a communicative and merciful effect to those entering the church. Among the ancient mosaics outstanding is the baptism of Christ, stupendous work with the stylization of the waves.
Images of Saints and Fathers of the Church are present on the pillars and in the soffits of the arches.
On the side naves, decorated under the kingdom of Guglielmo I are narrated episodes of the lives of San Pietro e San Paolo and in the central nave the events of the Old Testament. The marble chandelier to hold the Easter candle, leaning on the ambo, an elegant sculpture made probably by artists into the culture of Northern Italy.
The Arab handcraft masters realized the vault in muqarnas, which dominates the central nave, a unique example in the whole world of pictorial Islamic decorations with human representations inside a place of worship. A structure entirely built in wood, wisely elaborated in sections united by insertions ,with stalactite and concave elements, that remind us of a cave. An inscription in Latin, Greek and Arab in 1142, in memory of the water clock made by Ruggero II, which is testimony of the fusion of cultures in Norman Palermo (the inscription is located in the Cortile Maqueda on the wall on the left side before entering the Chapel in direction to the stairs that conduct us to the Cortile della Fontana and its translated in its byzantine version “O meraviglia nuova! Il forte Signore Ruggiero avendo avuto lo scettro da Dio, frena il corso della fluida sostanza, la cognizione distribuendo scevra di errori delle ore del tempo. Nel mese di marzo indizione quinta e di nostra salute l’anno 1142, e del suo felice regno l’anno XIII").
The mosaics on the frontage at the entrance where performed during the beginning of the XIX century by Santi Cardini and Pietro Casamassima and represent the events of the life of Assalon, rebel son of king Davide. This cycle was realized by will of Ferdinando III di Borbone (present along with his wife Maria Carolina in the medallion on the mosaic with the Genius of Palermo crowned).
