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The Cathedral
The cathedral is in Palermo historical centre, very close to the square that hosts the Royal Palace, which in turn hosts the Palatine Chapel, and behind the Mercato delle Pulci (the flea market) and via Papireto, where it gushed the homonymous river whose banks were teeming with papyrus.
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The cathedral is one of the first buildings to stand on the streets of the Arab-Norman centre, which can be accessed from Porta Nuova (verbatim, “New Door”).
The cathedral is a wonderful architectural work that, in its royalty and elegance, marries the surrounding environment made of small streets, alleys and secondary paths, apparently degraded, but many of which enshrine priceless treasures inside majestic atriums that lead to houses with very high roofs and boundless spaces, creating an elegant oxymoron.
Nevertheless, Palermo is just like that: it is a living oxymoron and any of its building recalls its peculiarity, its knowing how to be timeless, its apparent neglect that hides treasures, beating hearts to the rhythm of art and beauty. An oxymoron for which you do not ask questions about its nonsense, but which gives you all the answers, even to those questions that you have not yet asked yourself. The cathedral, in fact, majestically stands in a so authentic and wonderful scenario that is Vittorio Emanuele avenue.
The building rises with its sand colour in a very large rectangular square, which tourists and devotes access by walking on pebbles smoothed by a constant passìo (verbatim, “walk”) that lasts every hour of the day. The square embraces the entire sidewall of the cathedral, which is extending in length and contains many details that make it unique: the dome, the bell towers, the arches and the doors, the Arab apse, the clock.
Already with only one side, the cathedral reveals infinite beauty details, that are not limited to those visible from this first angle, but that can be more and more clearly seen by approaching the walls and discovering its indoor secrets.
The cathedral of Palermo is a unique symbol of the city, invaluable and significant. For me personally, the most representative and of which I never cease to marvel at his sight, together with the Teatro Massimo. The power of that building, although within a context as lively as that one of the historic centre, manages to hide the frenetic buzz coming from the streets full of tourists and shops replete of local products, with a respectful silence that exudes from its walls.
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I do not want to talk about the history of the Cathedral, I do not want to describe its architectural features; for this there are many materials from which to draw and much more wise voices than mine. However, with these words, I would like the reader to be able to wear my own eyes in order to immerse himself in that vision I am trying to describe with the only instrument of my words. I wish that, especially for those who are not born in Palermo, they could feel what I feel thinking about so dear places; that they could smell the street even though there were never been there and feel the warmth of that sun kisses every corner of the city, as a ray of light has landed on their arm.
To facilitate this empathy process, I would like to guide at least the sense of sight of the kind reader, including this photograph that I took on a warm December day a few years ago.
Try to carefully observe this photo and dwell on the first impressions it transmits to you: on the colours of the walls, on the sun that illuminates it, on the silent statues that recall passers-by on the street. How would you feel if you were there? What feeling would you convey the majestic view of the Cathedral from its thousand details, so harmoniously arranged in its different styles?
Now, think that the scenery around you is that one of a very long street in the historical centre, at the end of which, in the distance, you can see the blue of the sea. In the stretch where you are, the sea is just far away but you can perceive it, you can see it, you can feel it. You look around, you look at the shops full of people, you look at the bars offering you sweet granitas or delicious cannoli with ricotta.
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Now try to expand this sensorial experience and combine the sense of hearing with your imagination. You are in a street full of passers-by and shops: can you hear the sound of footsteps, the voices and laughs of people walking through? Can you hear the explanations of the guide who tells tourists the secrets of the cathedral with its raised flag, in order to be found also by the last of the group?
Stop for a second; let all these noises enter you.
Now look at the cathedral again. Can you hear the silence hanging over the surrounding souls?
Can you let yourself be pervaded by the beauty in front of you, which hides any other element as if it was futility, as if the only important thing was what those walls want to tell you?
Can you let yourself be pervaded by that silent noise that pushes you to stop, to take a snapshot, to then find yourself being an admiring spectator of that photograph, rather than the protagonist?
Stop. Stop again. Be patient. Be grateful for this silence that the Cathedral gives you. It is a full silence, it should not scare you.
Can you feel what I am feeling? Can you perceive this "infinite silence" as I feel it?
I would like this scene not to be only in my mind, but since I am not able to do otherwise, I will accompany you on this journey, which for my fellow citizens and me is a dear memory and for the readers, I hope, a pleasant identification.
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Savour that silence again; let it in as you let in the noise of the crowded street before. Then revive yourself inside the photography, slowly combining the sense of touch.
Approach the low wall that surrounds the square to enter the cathedral and touch the stones. Do you feel the heat they give off? Which is not only a solar heat, it is also a heat that wants to comfort, that wants to embrace and make anyone citizen of that place. That wall could not ever be cold, not even in winter, because it is the entrance of a living beauty, which in its steadfastness, in its foundations that are just under 1000 years old, speaks to you and tells you about distant centuries, about different eras, about the sun that has set but that has risen every day. Do you feel the warmth of these legends rising from your hands, up to your whole arm? Do you feel this breath of wind messing your hair?
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Try to inhale and then activate the sense of smell. The odour of an ancient city rises from the earth. Walk forward, open your eyes to the blue of the sea and feel that slight scent of sea salt covered by the frenetic activities that produce delicacies. Savour that mixture of characteristic smells that give life to a fragrance, which tastes like home.
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Now make the last effort: swiftly retrace the steps by which you immersed yourself in this very short and personal film and imagine that you can also combine the sense of taste. What would it taste like?
I would like this scene not to be only in my mind, but since I am not able to do otherwise, I have accompanied you on this journey, which is very precious for my fellow citizens and me.
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At the end, before letting anything else enter my mind, I look once again at the walls of the Cathedral.
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Oh dear cathedral, wonderful and unique stone that with your indispensable presence, you make richer our city already rich, you make more beautiful our city already wonderful, you make our city more unique and full of details, you make our city more welcoming with your big open arms, please never stop shining, please never stop giving us that restful silence, please never stop being desired by those who have known you and by those who want to discover you.
29.03.20
Find out where The Cathedral is
