Chiesa di Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio o La Martorana
Church of St. Mary's Admiral, known as "Martorana", overlooking the Bellini Square, in Palermo. Among the most fascinating Byzantine churches in Italy, is testament to the religious and artistic Orthodox culture, belonging to the Eparchia of Piana degli Albanesi, with liturgy according to the Byzantine rite. The building stands out for the variety of styles: the first body (eighteenth-century makeover, frescoed by Olivio Sozzi, Antonio Grano and Guglielmo Borremans) has two mosaics on the front, depicting Roger II in the guise of Byzantine Emperor, crowned King by the Jesus Christ's hands, and the dedication of the Virgin by Admiral George of Antioch. Passed this room, there is the Medieval part of the Church: the upper band of the walls and the dome, which stands at the top of the image of Pantocrator Christ, they are entirely covered with Byzantine mosaics of great importance, the oldest of all the Sicily. The Church preserves its original mixed marble iconostasis. The apse was demolished in the late seventeenth century and it was replaced with the present Baroque chapel in inlays marble.
