IMG_2643 - The crumbling walls are very deceptive. The chapel inside is spectacular!
IMG_2646 - Prickly pear, kapok with water, dry kapok, Norfolk Island pine. Seafarers brought seeds from around the world.
IMG_2647 - The Norman Palace. Entrance to the Byzantine, Roman, and Arab styled Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina).
IMG_2650 - This royal carriage, dated 1776, belonged to the noble, Lanza-Branciforte family.
IMG_2651 - There are plastic panels below the railings. Do they protect children or the balustrades?
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IMG_2654 - Marble with embedded shells.
IMG_2656 - Cloisters of the Norman Palace (Palazzo dei Normanni).
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IMG_2664 - Note the stabilization rods above the arches. Great efforts are made to preserve these ancient structures.