San Cataldo

San Cataldo is a small Norman church on Piazza Bellini in the old centre of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, beside La Martorana and the Teatro Bellini. It was founded around 1154 by Majone of Bari, grand admiral and chancellor under King William I. Majone was assassinated in 1160, and the church was never fully completed, which is reflected in the austere interior, which lacks the mosaic decoration planned for it. The church later passed through several owners, including the Benedictine nuns of Monte Vergine, and was used as a post office in the 19th century before being restored to its Norman form in the 1880s. The exterior is the main attraction: a compact rectangular block of pale stone with blind arcades, a crenellated parapet and three red domes along the roofline. The domes, typical of the Arab-Norman style, rest on a nave divided into three bays by four columns with re-used classical capitals. The interior is almost bare, with a mosaic floor in the choir area and an altar table. This simplicity gives the building a calm, meditative character in contrast with the lavish mosaic programmes of La Martorana, the Cappella Palatina and Monreale. Architecturally it is one of the clearest expressions of the cultural fusion that defined Norman Sicily, with a mix of Byzantine, Islamic and Romanesque features. San Cataldo is one of the nine components of the UNESCO World Heritage site Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale, inscribed in 2015. The building is generally well maintained, and it is occasionally used for concerts and exhibitions. A visit takes only a short time and is easily combined with La Martorana and the other sights of the Quattro Canti area.