San Giovanni degli Eremiti - one of the largest monasteries in Palermo, once belonged to the Benedictine monks. Located between the Palazzo dei Normanni and the church of San Giuseppe John Kafasso, it is a monument of Arab-Norman architecture.

According to legend, at the beginning of the 1st millennium at this place was a pagan temple of Mercury. In the 6th century on the orders of Pope Gregory I was founded here a monastery, consecrated in honor of the Apostle Hermas. And when the Arabs occupied Sicily, they turned the monastery into a mosque. However, historians and archaeologists have not managed to find on the site of San Giovanni degli Eremiti tracks like ancient pagan temple and later a monastery and a mosque, so all of the above remains a legend.

It is known, however, that in 1136 Roger II ordered built next to his royal palace Benedictine monastery for hermits of Montevergine. Interestingly, the abbot of the monastery was ordained bishop and was the personal confessor of King. He had the right to conduct services in the famous Palatine Chapel. Himself Roger II also bequeathed to bury all the uncrowned members of his family in this monastery, but his instructions had not been carried out.

Reasons desolation of the monastery still remain unknown. In the mid-15th century by Cardinal Giovanni Nicola Ursino with the permission of Pope Paul II gave the monks the structure of San Martino della Scala. And in 1866, San Giovanni degli Eremiti, like most monasteries in Italy, has been abolished. In the late 19th century, its walls were carried out extensive restoration work, which resulted in the building acquired its original Arab-Norman shape. Today it is a museum.

The architecture of the monastery and the associated church is rather remarkable. A distinctive feature of the church are the five red hemispherical dome, characteristic of the mosques of Egypt and North Africa. In Palermo, something similar can be seen in the church of San Cataldo. The right to a church built out a small rectangular building, which is considered a modified Arabic mosque ages 9-11. However, this evidence could not be found. Another feature of San Giovanni degli Eremiti is the fact that its cloister - gallery, forming a patio, has no roof.

The interior of the religious complex is very strict - there was no trace of mosaics and frescoes, which are likely to have disappeared because of the prolonged absence of the roof of the church.