I Palazzi Reali di Palermo e di Messina fra XVI e XVII secolo

The history of the royal palaces of Palermo and Messina officially begins with the creation of the monarchical institution in Sicily at the beginning of the 12th century. It was with the coronation of Roger II (1095-1154), at Christmas in 1130, that they indeed assumed the definition of 'sacred royal palaces,' acquiring that institutional and representative role which would so distinctly mark their subsequent architectural developments. Over the centuries, the two buildings have experienced alternating and different fortunes, closely linked, as is obvious, to the political events that affected the Kingdom of Sicily from the Middle Ages to the modern era. These events sometimes developed in parallel for the two complexes, sometimes in a completely antithetical manner, in close relation to the sharp rivalry that had grown over time between Palermo and Messina.