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East
meets west in Sicily
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| A
one-time Arab emirate and jewel in the Moorish crown
Sicily is breathing a new wind of Islamic culture.
We take a trip through modern Muslim Sicily and
discover a land when past and present mix . . . |
 Sicily's
strategic position in the Mediterranean has made
it a cultural crossroads washed over by successive
waves of invaders. On this island, between the 9th
and 12th centuries AD, two great civilisations
- the Arabs and the Normans - met and mingled laying
the basis of the Sicily of today.
We start our journey in Palermo, whose very
name - from the Arab Balarm - defines its
origins. The city, a one-time Arab emirate, was
described in 973 as "the city of the 300 mosques"
by the eminent Arab traveller and explorer Ibn Hawqal.
Wherever you look there are signs of the city's
heyday as a capital of the Islamic, and consequently
Norman kingdoms. Modern Islamic culture occupies
a much humbler place in Palermo. The 300 mosques
have diminished to but 1 which is housed in a deconsecrated
church in Palermo's inner city. The church, San
Paolino dei Giardinieri, was badly damaged during
WW2 and was given to the council by the diocese
and is now run by the Tunisian government.
Its a short walk from the Mosque to Palermo's architecturally
eclectic Cathedral.
Built in 604 AD as a Christian temple it was given
'facelifts' by both Moors and Normans with the last
(disastrous) restoration taking place in the 18th
Century. Take a close look at the columns that flank
the main entrance. Arab scholars will recognise
verses from the Koran. Perhaps the finest example
of Arab-Norman art in Sicily is the Cappella
Palatina in Piazza della Vittoria, a few minutes'
walk from the Cathedral. The chapel is a magnificent
showcase of Arab-Norman art with its breath-taking
Byzantine mosaics rivalled only by those in Istanbul
and Ravenna.
Another church well worth a visit is Chiesa
di San Giovanni degli Eremiti - which was built
on the remains of an Arab mosque. From there we
then head towards La
Zisa (from the Arab al-aziz meaning noble
and magnificent). This splendid Arab-Norman castle
was built in the 12th Century as the
King's summer residence. You can visit the museum
which houses an impressive collection of Islamic
artefacts from the Mediterranean basin.
Mazara del Vallo
We now leave the capital and go south-west towards
Mazara del Vallo.
This is where the Moors landed in 827 AD
when they first set about their conquest of Sicily.
Nowadays the town boasts some 5,000 Tunisians
- an impressive 10% of the total population - most
of whom live in the casbah, the old
Arab quarter. The town's Moorish past is still evident
in the remains of the original mosque, the streets
and courtyards of the San Francesco and
Giudecca Quarters, and the domes of two beautiful
Arab-Norman churches: Sant'Egidio e del Carmine
and San Nicolò Regale (which is known
locally as Santa Niculicchia). Walk around and savour
the sights, sounds and smells which seem to come
straight from the pages of "Arabian Nights".
Catania's modern mosque
Our journey now brings us to Catania
on the eastern coast of Sicily and into the modern
world of Islam. Indeed Catania is home to Italy's
first modern mosque, which was opened in 1980
and was shortly followed by the mosques in Milan
(1988) and Rome (1995). The mosque, which is dedicated
to Khalif Omar, was designed by an Egyptian
architect and financed by the Libyan government
but the initial idea was promoted by a local lawyer
Michele Papa who recognised the need of the
city's Arab population. It's a pity that the Islamic
congregation didn't appreciate the Latin dedication
to Papa on the mosque's imposing entrance and chose
to relocate to a somewhat shoddier structure close
to the port.
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| by
ELENA
GUARNERI |
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Feb.
15th, 2002
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
