The picturesque red domes of this deconsecrated church make it one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks. Situated south of the Palazza dei Normanni, it is Palermo’s most romantic Norman monument, not so much because of its austere interior, but because of its Moorish domes, its beautiful cloisters, and the little garden, a scented pocket of green calm, full of palms, bougainvillea, jasmine, and orange trees.

The church was built on the orders of Roger II, and almost certainly stands on the site of an earlier mosque, part of which probably survives in the shape of the simple hall to its right.

If the gardens here whet your appetite for escape, then the Villa Bonanno is a larger oasis just to the northeast of the church. Entered from Piazza della Vittoria, the large public park is a perfect place to relax and watch the Palermitans at play.