The audio instruction tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting factual statements about the church.

In 1072, Norman Dukes conquered Palermo and, in Sicily, began a time in which the Byzantine culture, the knowledge of the Arabs and the expressiveness of the Normans fused, creating an extraordinary unity. The symbol of this synthesis may be the chapel of Santa Maria dell’Amiraglio, better known as “la Martorana”. It was made according to the will from the Syrian Admiral of King Ruggero II, about Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio. Martorana. Palermo. Italy George of Antioch. The term “admiral”, the name directed at the chapel, identifies the job of its founder.

In 1221, the church was patronized from the pope, who guaranteed the church’s right of Greek worship.

In 1282, during the Sicilian vespers’ war, it was in the church building, which became the seat from the Pretoria Courtroom in Palermo, where the Sicilian Parliament offered the crown to King Peter of Aragon.

While in 1443 King Alfonso of Aragon assigned the chapel to the close by Benedictine monastery, it assumed its second name, “Martorana”. Of great worth are the mosaics of spiritual, historical and political significance.

The audioguide has been created by professionals in neuro-scientific history and art.