Teatro Marmoreo and Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo
Teatro Marmoreo or Marble Theatre, a sculptural Baroque monument by Gaspare Guercio, 1611-79, Carlo D'Aprile, 1621-68, and Gaspard Serpotta, in celebration of Philip IV of Habsburg, or Philip the Great, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. The original statue of Philip IV was destroyed during the Sicilian Revolution in 1848 and was replaced in 1856 by a statue of King Philip V of Spain, by Nuncio Morello. Behind the monument is the Royal Palace, or Palazzo Reale, or Norman Palace, or Palazzo dei Normanni. It is the oldest royal residence in Europe and was home to the Kings of Sicily, and is now the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. Built on an earlier Arabic castle, the Norman palace was begun in the 11th century, and forms part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalu and Monreale UNESCO World Heritage Site. Picture by Manuel Cohen
