Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio vs Palermo Cathedral
Two churches in Palermo. Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio has 1 ticket or tour to book; Palermo Cathedral has 4 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
The Martorana stands on Piazza Bellini in the historic centre of Palermo, beside the little red-domed church of San Cataldo and facing Santa Caterina, and a small admission is charged. It is one of the essential sights of Palermo and part of the UNESCO listing of Arab-Norman Palermo, together with the Palatine Chapel and the cathedrals of Monreale and Cefalu. Walking tours of the old town always include it, usually with the Quattro Canti crossroads and the Pretoria fountain next door.
The church is free to enter; the paid parts are sold as a combined ticket and are worth the small sum. They are the royal tombs, where Frederick II and Roger II lie in porphyry sarcophagi; the treasury, with the jewelled crown of Constance of Aragon taken from her tomb; the crypt, with Roman and medieval sarcophagi reused by archbishops; and the roof walk, which climbs to the terraces for a view over the Cassaro and down onto the domes. The roof is the one to prioritise.
