CATHEDRAL
Duomo – The area now occupied by the
cathedral has been a place of worship since early
Antiquity. A temple erected in the 6C BC was
replaced by a temple dedicated to Athena,
honouring the goddess with some of the profits
from the fateful and decisive defeat of the
Carthaginians at Himera (480 BC), in the 7C AD,
the temple was incorporated into a Christian
church: walls were raised between the columns of
the peristyle and a double arcade of eight arches
was inserted in the
cella to provide two lateral aisles. Still today, the
majestic Doric columns may be seen among the
left side of the church, both inside and outside the
building. Possibly converted into a mosque
during the Arab domination, it was restored for
Christian use by the Normans. The 1693
earthquake caused the front façade to collapse,
thereby causing it to be rebuilt in the Baroque style (18C) by
the Palermo architect Andrea Palma. He used the column as the basic unit module for
his design.
The entrance is preceded by an atrium screening a fine doorway flanked by a pair of
twisted columns, the spirals of which are decorated with vines and grapes (a symbol
of the Passion).
lnside, the right side of the south aisle incorporates the columns of the temple; today
these frame the entrance into the lateral chapels. The first bay on the right contains a
lovely font made from a Greek marble krater, supported by seven small 13C
wrought-iron lions. The next chapel, dedicated to St Lucy, is furnished with an 1BC
silver altar-front. The silver figure of the saint nestling in the niche is by Pietro Rizzo
(1599).
Elsewhere, the cathedral is furnished with several statues by the various
Gaginis: the Virgin is by Domenico, St. Lucy is by Antonello (north aisle); the
Madonna della Neve in the north apse is by Antonello.