Palaces of Sicily

by Angheli Zalapi

This book is the first to trace the evolution and style of the fabulous homes that have been built on the island, from feudal castles to city mansions and country villas. It begins in the heyday of the Altavillas, the dynasty of Norman rulers who arrived in Sicily midway through the eleventh-century. They were open to the rich cultural influences of the island, especially the Arab koinS that melded so successfully into buildings such as the Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace) and Palazzo Zisa. Sicilian residential architecture reached splendid heights under its Spanish rulers from Aragon and Catalonia. In this period extraordinary buildings, such as Palazzo Ajatamicristo, were constructed. At the height of the Baroque period, Sicily became a hotbed of orignal architectural and decorative elements. During the rebuilding that followed the terrible earthquake of 1683, eastern Sicily gave birth to a whole new artistic vocabulary. In this context, suffice it to mention Palazzo Biscari in Catania. But Pa

Genres: Nonfiction, Italy, History

Hardcover

First published December 15, 1998

Reviews

[Frank Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book filled with beautiful pictures that describe palaces in Sicily. The pictures are amazing and deserve 5 stars. The book unfortunately, it not very good for anyone who is not already knowledgeable about Sicilian architectural history. As a novice in the area, the writing in the book was largely confusing. The author assumes far more of his readers than I believe is appropriate. He assumes full knowledge of the geography of Sicily, including all the various regions of Palermo. No maps were provided to help locate the various palaces. He also assumes a full historical knowledge of the people of Sicily: political, cultural, artistic and architectural. Names are dropped, as if any reader will of course recognise an apparently famous 7th Century Neapolitan architect. The author uses what I believe is a technical language in describing the various parts of the Sicilian palaces. While this was (for me) confusing, it is more forgivable since I am a complete novice in this area. Finally, the text correlated poorly with the pictures provided. The book would be greatly improved if the text would refer to the specific pictures, rather than having any linkages merely implicit, and thus typically missed. Ultimately, unless you are a near expert in these areas, the text is virtually useless and while the pictures are amazing, the captions for the figures were minimal at best. So, this is a very poor book for a non-expert unless they are only interested in looking at pretty pictures.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, very interesting book on the palazzi and villas of Sicily