Dictionary of islamic architecture

shish mahal
Mughal term for a room decorated with mirror
mosaics.
Sicily
Large island south of Italy, occupied by Muslim Arabs
for 200 years.
The first Arab conquest in Sicily was the capture of
Mazara in 827 by the Aghlabid governors of
Ifriqiyya (roughly equivalent to modern Tunisia).
The conquest of the island was not complete until
75 years later, although immigration began
immediately. In 1061 the island was captured by
the Normans and became the centre of a flourishing
Byzantine, Islamic and Norman culture.
There are few architectural remains of the
Islamic period because most buildings were rebuilt
or remodelled later under the Normans. Indeed,
many of the most important Arab buildings were
themselves converted Byzantine structures; thus the
cathedral of the capital at Palermo was converted
into the Great Mosque by the Arabs and
subsequently became a Norman cathedral. There
are only two entirely Muslim structures which have
survived. These are La Favara Castle (Arabic al-
Fawwara) and the eleventh-century baths of Cefala
30 km outside Palermo.
Probably the most significant traces of Islamic
architecture are found in the buildings of the
Norman kingdom, when Arab craftsmen and
designs continued to be used. Probably the most
striking example of this is the Cappella Palatina
with its painted wooden ceiling. To the south of
Palermo the Norman king built a royal park in the
Islamic style, with palaces and hunting lodges. One
of the best preserved palaces is the Ziza Palace built
by William II (1166–89). This rectangular structure
is built in the form of an Islamic reception hall with
a central cruciform reception room flanked by
smaller rooms. The building is decorated with
muqarnas corbels, rows of blind niches and a
fountain which runs in a narrow channel through
the palace.