Description of the attraction
The Church of Magione is a temple in the eastern part of Palermo dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Built in the late 12th century with funds from the patron Matteo d'Angelo, it is a fine example of late Norman architecture in Sicily. Magione, along with two other churches of the Archdiocese of Palermo, bears the privileged title of "minor basilica".
The exact date of the beginning of the construction of the temple is unknown, but historians agree that the foundation was laid between 1150 and 1190. It is only known for certain that already in 1191, Magione passed into the possession of the Cistercian Order - this happened at the behest of Matteo d'Angelo. Six years later, the church became the property of the Knights of the Teutonic Order, this time by order of Emperor Henry VI. And at the end of the 15th century, Magione turned into an ordinary parish church.
Like many other buildings in Palermo, the Church of Magione was seriously damaged during the Second World War during air raids on the city. During the subsequent restoration in the 1950s-1960s, the interior of the temple was freed from numerous baroque elements, which returned it to its original appearance. Today Magione, as mentioned above, is considered one of the best preserved examples of late Sicilian-Norman architecture.
The facade of the church - austere and laconic - consists of three tiers, which in turn form blind arches. It does not have the intricate inlays and decorations that are so typical for other cathedrals in Palermo. Inside, Magione is a three-nave basilica, with narrow side chapels separated from the central nave by two rows of marble columns. The columns are crowned with pointed arches. The interior of the church is also simple and practically devoid of decorations - only in the left nave one can see the tombstones of the knights of the Teutonic Order.
A covered gallery of double columns with beautiful capitals adjoins one of the walls of Magione - this is a cloister that forms an inner courtyard. The architecture of the cloister suggests that the same craftsmen who erected the Cathedral of Monreale, a suburb of Palermo, worked on its creation.
