The Zisa of Palermo

The Zisa sollatium[3] is one of the suburban residences built by the Norman kings of Sicily and designed for l’otium[4] and relaxation. Other examples include the Favara (Maredolce), the Scibene, the Park of Altofonte and the pavillions of Cuba and Cuba Soprana. The palace was situated inside a large park, the Genoard (jannat al-ard or “earthly paradise”), and was surrounded by gardens, fountains and large ornamental lakes. Its name derives from the term ‘aziz (“noble”, “splendid”), used in the inscription over the entrance door to the central room on the ground floor.

The building is a rectangular parallelipiped; two short wings jut out at the centre of the shorter sides. Against it is set a small narrow building linking it to a small chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The facades feature a series of large blind arcades, with at the top an epigraphic frieze in Kufic script, like those in the Palatine Chapel, Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, San Cataldo and the baths of Cefalà Diana.

Inside, on each of the three floors, all the rooms surround one central room and are arranged symmetrically in relation to the transversal axis of the building. On the ground floor, a hallway runs the entire length of the building and gives access to the Fountain Hall. This space is two storeys high and is conceived as an ἳwἃn with ornamental recesses built into the walls and decorated with muqarnas.

A system of openings through the internal walls and of ventilation pipes fitted into the small towers at the sides gave a continuous circulation of air, which guaranteed a pleasant internal temperature even in extreme heat.

The influence of Islamic customs and architecture is apparent both in the Zisa’s general structure and in the water system, which includes impressive hydraulic circuitry carrying water to the ornamental lakes. The water emerged in the entrance hall and from there it flowed down a slope decorated with a zigzag pattern, through a series of elegant fountains that recall the shardiwan of Qalʿa, and on to the great fishpond in front of the palace, where there stood a small pavilion.

Some writers consider that the Zisa was built by local Islamic craftsmen in cooperation with craftsmen from the Maghreb. The impressive height, the clean geometric volumes emphasised by blind arcades, the formal internal arrangement which enhances the public spaces while concealing the private apartments, the use of semi-circular vaulting supporting ornamental tilework and terracing, all these are architectonic characteristics which lead to frequent comparison of the Zisa with palaces of the Hammadide dynasty (Qalʿa: Dâr al-Bahr and the ground floor of the Dâr al-Manâr),  those of the Zirides (Achir palace) and those of the Fatimids (Tunis: Banû Khurasân and Burj al-Arif de Mahdia). Nevertheless, in the second half of the twelfth century, most of these architectural features were already known to local island culture. They had first been tried out in the period of Roger II and contributed to the formation of a new style which makes Sicilian creations original.

[2] This term means: noble, powerful, honoured, etc.; it refers here to the palace: Zisa comes from ‘Aziza.

[4] Latin name for leisure time.