Cattedrale di Vergine Assunta

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Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Italian: Cattedrale di Vergine Assunta Madre Chiesa) - Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Palermo (Sicily). It is the seat of the relics of the patroness of the city of St. Rosalia, and the center of the exclusively Sicilian cult of this saint, known from the XVII century. During the XII-XVIII centuries, it was repeatedly rebuilt, combining the features of Arab-Norman architecture, Gothic style and classicism. Known for the unique tombs of Sicilian kings and German emperors, during whose reign the Sicilian kingdom reached its peak. In the 4th century, a church was built on the site of the present cathedral in honor of the local martyr Mamilian, later destroyed by vandals. Under the Byzantines in 604, a new cathedral was built in the same place in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, consecrated, according to local legend, by Pope Gregory the Great. In 831, Palermo was captured by the Arabs, who turned the cathedral into a Friday mosque.