Critical luck of an unusual architectural lemma. The tetrastyle group of the Norman cathedral of
Palermo. First reflections
The unusual formal solution of tetrastyle groups of classical columns dividing the Norman cathedral of
Palermo into three naves calls for further study. After investigating the adoption of similar combinations
of supports during the different historical periods, I could read the spatial qualities imprinted on the
interior of palermitan church, concluding that it is the result of a particular, syncretic cultural and
artistic fusion. Following the research carried out, the tetrastyle solution of the Cathedral therefore
remains unique and original, the result of the anonymous architect’s ability to combine the English
linearistic taste of the new lords with the still lively taste of Arab Sicily, enriched by the echoes of a third
component, classicist and latin, which chooses and groups reused columns according to compositional
methods adopted in monumental buildings of the past. The successful architectural synthesis in this
particular occasion has established the taste for column supports in the centuries-old architectural
tradition of Palermo.
