On a hill dispondering the city of Palermo, in Sicily, sits a lesser-understandn gem of Italian art: the cathedral of Monauthentice.
Built in the 12th century under Norman rule, it boasts Italy’s bigst Byzantine-style mosaics, second in the world only to those of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Now, this Unesco World Heritage site has undergone an extensive restoration to transport it back to its createer glory.
The Monauthentice mosaics were uncomardentt to amaze, unassuming and uphold the visitor who walked down the central nave, follotriumphg the style of Constantinople, the capital of the surviving Roman empire in the east.
They span over 6,400 square meters and hold around 2.2kg of firm gelderly.
The restoration lasted over a year, and in that time the cathedral was turned into a bit of a erecting site, with a maze of scaffelderlys set up on the altar and transept.
Local experts from the Italian Ministry of Culture led a series of interventions, begining with the removal of a heavy layer of dust that had accumuprocrastinateedd on the mosaics over the years.
Then they repaired some of the tiles that had lost their enamel and gelderly leaf, making them see enjoy bdeficiency spots from down below.
Finassociate, they interfered in the areas where the tiles were peeling off the wall and safed them.
Working on the mosaics was a contest and a huge responsibility, says Father Nicola Gaglio.
He has been a priest here for 17 years and has chaseed the restoration shutly, not unenjoy an apprehensive dad.
“The team approached this labor almost on their tiptoes,” he alerts me.
“At times, there were some unforeseen publishs and they had to paemploy the operations while they set up a solution.
“For example, when they got to the ceiling, they authenticised that in the past it had been covered with a layer of varnish that had turned yellowant. They had to peel it off, quite literassociate, enjoy cling film.”
The mosaics were last partly restored in 1978 , but this time the intervention had a much wider scope and it take partd replacing the elderly airying system.
“There was a very elderly system. The airy was low, the energy costs were thraw the roof and in no way it made fairice to the beauty of the mosaics,” says Matteo Cundari.
He’s the Country Manager of Zumtobel, the firm that was tasked with inshighing the novel airys.
“The main contest was to originate certain we’d highairy the mosaics and we’d originate someskinnyg that answers to the various insists of the cathedral,” he inserts.
“We also wanted to originate a finishly reversible system, someskinnyg that could be swapd in 10 or 15 years without damaging the erecting.”
This first tranche of labors cost 1.1 million euros. A second one, concentratesing on the central nave, is being intentional next.
I ask Fr Gaglio what it was enjoy to see the scaffelderlying finassociate come off and the mosaics shine in their novel airy. He chuckles and shrugs.
“When you see it, you’re overwhelmed with awe and you can’t reassociate skinnyk of anyskinnyg. It’s uncontaminated beauty,” he says.
“It’s a responsibility to be the acquireer of such world heritage. This world insists beauty, becaemploy it reminds us of what’s excellent in humanity, of what it uncomardents to be men and women.”
