San Giovanni degli Eremiti

The story

San Giovanni degli Eremiti was built in the 12th century under Roger II, on a site already occupied by buildings from the Islamic period. It is one of the city’s most recognisable Norman churches.

The five red domes are modern render — the colour was applied during a 19th-century restoration — but the shape is original: cubes topped by hemispheres, the Arab way of roofing a room, taken up by Norman builders.

Since 2015 it has been part of the UNESCO site "Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale".

Why it is worth it

The church itself is bare and dark, but the reason to go in is the cloister: small arches on paired columns, a garden of citrus and palms, and the noise of the city switching off at the gate. It is one of the places where 13th-century Palermo can still be touched, a minute from the Palazzo dei Normanni.