Martorana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Martorana, also known as Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio (Saint Mary of the Admiral), is a church in Palermo (Sicily, Italy). The church is annexed to the next-door church of San Cataldo and overlooks the Piazza Bellini in central Palermo.
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[edit] History
The name Ammiraglio derives from the founder of the church, the famous Greek admiral George of Antioch, who commissioned its construction starting from 1143; it was completed in 1151. After the Sicilian Vespers of 1282 the island's nobility gathered in the church for a meeting that resulted in the Sicilian crown being offered to Peter III of Aragon.
The common name La Martorana originated under King Alfonso of Aragon, who in 1436 assigned the church to the nuns of a Benedictine convent established in 1194 by Eloisa Martorana. The nuns extensively modified the church between the 16th century and the 18th century, making major changes to the structure and the interior decoration.
The nuns of the Martorana were famous for their moulded marzipan, which they made in the form of various fruits. Although the convent no longer exists, frutta di Martorana are still one of Palermo's most famous and distinctive foodstuffs.
In 1935 Benito Mussolini returned it to the control of Palermo's Greek Orthodox community. It is still used today for Greek Orthodox services and shares cathedral status with the church of San Demetrio in Piana degli Albanesi.
[edit] Architecture
The original Norman Romanesque edifice, which impressed the Arab traveller Ibn Jubayr in 1184, has been greatly modified since its construction. A Baroque façade faces onto the piazza. The main entrance is through a richly decorated 12th century bell tower, with three orders of arches and lodges with mullioned windows, small columns and tarsias. The tower was originally free-standing but was attached to the church in the 16th century. It collapsed in an earthquake in 1726 but was restored in the 19th century.
The interior of the church was originally constructed with a traditional Greek cross plan but was extended with two additional bays to provide a nave and two aisles, with the apse being replaced by a square choir. In the 17th century a dome and Baroque high altar were added to the interior, giving the church a certain eclectic fashion.
[edit] Interior
The church is renowned for its spectacular interior, which is dominated by a series of 12th century mosaics believed to have been executed by the same Byzantine craftsmen responsible for the similar mosaics at the Cappella Palatina, also in Palermo.
The walls display two mosaics taken from the original Norman façade, depicting King Roger II, George of Antioch's lord, receiving the crown of Sicily from Jesus, and, on the northern side of the aisle, George himself, at the feet of the Virgin. The depiction of Roger was highly significant in terms of its iconography. In Western Christian tradition, kings were customarily crowned by the Pope or his representatives; however, Roger is shown in Byzantine dress being crowned by God himself. Roger was renowned for presenting himself as an emperor during his reign, being addressed as basileus ("emperor" in Greek). The mosaic of the crowning of Roger carries an inscription in a blend of Latin and Greek (Rogerios Rex, the former word in Greek, the latter in Latin).
The nave dome is occupied by the traditional Greek image of Christ Pantokrator surrounded by the archangels St Michael, St Gabriel, St Raphael and St Uriel. The register below depicts the eight prophets of the Old Testament and, in the pendentives, the four evangelists of the New Testament. The nave vault depicts the Nativity and the Death of the Virgin.
The newer part of the church is decorated with later frescoes of comparatively little artistic significance. The frescoes in the middle part of the walls are from the 18th century, attributed to Guglielmo Borremans.
[edit] References
- The Green Guide: Sicily (Michelin, 2003)
- Patrizia Fabbri, Palermo e Monreale (Bonechi, 2005)
- Irving Hexham and David Bershad, The Christian Travelers' Guide to Italy (Zondervan, 2001)
