San Giovanni degli Eremiti
San Giovanni degli Eremiti is a Norman church building in Palermo near the Norman Palace .
history
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The building consists of several parts from different eras. At the time of Pope Gregory in the 6th century, a church dedicated to St. S. Ermete was built on the site of the current building . The name S. Giovanni degli Eremiti is said to have originated from a twist of the word . In the 10th century, a previous building in the Arab style was built there. This previous building consisted of a walled rectangular courtyard with a colonnade on the north side and an approximately 6 × 18 m large hall on the east side. Five square pillars were arranged in the central axis of this Arab hall, dividing the hall into two naves. Each of the six bays created in this way was spanned on both sides by a cross vault, so the hall was covered by twelve cross vaults.
The church was built by Roger II shortly after his confirmation as King of Sicily in 1130 as part of the oldest Latin monastery in Palermo and completed in 1143.
The north wall of the courtyard was used as the south wall of the church. The transept was built into the Arab hall, the rest of the hall was used as a sacristy.
In 1464 San Giovanni degli Eremiti was subordinated to the Benedictine monastery of San Martino delle Scale, and in 1524 it was left to the Benedictines of Monreale. Over the centuries, more monastery buildings and apartments were built around the church.
In 1877 the church was exposed and restored by Giuseppe Patricolo. Among other things, the apse and the north facade of the church were exposed and the stucco that had meanwhile been applied inside was removed. On this occasion, the post-medieval buildings were also demolished. The domes were not painted red until the 20th century.
The outer
The church building rises above the ground plan of a T or Antonius cross . The wide nave runs in a west-east direction and has two large domes with a drum.
The transept, which is about half as wide as the nave, runs on its east side in north-south direction shows a peculiar height gradation: The southern transverse arm is as high as the nave and has a smaller stilted dome than the nave. The central part of the transept is higher than the nave and also has a smaller stilted dome. On its east side an apse juts out of the wall. The northern transverse arm carries a tower with large ogival window openings, which are framed on the top floor by triple-stepped blind arches. The tower also has a smaller stilted dome.
On the east facade, the wall of the former Arab hall adjoins the transept to the south. It has only narrow loopholes-shaped window openings. The south wall of the former Arab building complex has also been preserved, but the west wall is missing.
To the south of the complex is the baroque church of San Giorgio in Kemonia .
The inner
On the west side you get to the nave, which is divided into two roughly square bays by an arch. Each of these yokes is vaulted with a dome. The transition between the square substructure and the dome is via three-tier trumpets .
The transept is divided into three rooms with apses by pointed arches. Of the three apses, the middle one is almost semicircular; it can also be seen on the outside. The two side apses, on the other hand, are so flat that they remain within the thickness of the outer wall.
The right cross arm of the transept leads to the former Arab hall, which later served as a sacristy. Remains of the pillars and the original vaulting can still be seen. Today the room is spanned by three cross vaults. The originally pointed arched windows are walled up except for a narrow gap. In an ogival niche, remains of a fresco of an enthroned Mother of God can be seen, who is surrounded by two saints. There are also some remains of red inscriptions on the walls.
Cloister
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The cloister is located northwest of the nave . It dates from the 13th century or was then remodeled. It was probably one of the destroyed buildings of the convent. Double columns made of marble support the slightly ogival arcades . There is a fountain in the middle of the cloister.
literature
- Ettore Magno, Giovanna Cassata: San Giovanni degli Eremiti. Enchiridion, Palermo 1983.
- Museum Without Borders (Ed.): Arab-Norman Art - Sicily's Culture in the Middle Ages. International cycle of exhibitions on Islamic art in the Mediterranean, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tübingen Berlin, 2004, ISBN 3-8030-4102-3 .
- Brigit Carnabuci: Sicily. Greek temples, Roman villas, Norman cathedrals and baroque cities in the center of the Mediterranean (= DuMont art travel guide ). 6th, updated edition. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-4385-6 .
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 34.7 " N , 13 ° 21 ′ 16.7" E