San Giovanni degli Eremiti is a 6^th century church located close to Palazzo dei Normanni. Originally built as a church, the building was converted into a mosque following the Islamic occupation of Sicily. In 1136, during the Norman occupation, King Roger II entrusted the church to monks of the Benedictine order of Saint William of Vercelli.

Numerous renovations and modifications were performed on the church over the centuries. In 1880, a project was undertaken with the goal of restoring the church to its appearance during the 12^th century. Visitors to the church today could therefore see the combined influences of Arabian and Norman architecture, along with a number of distinctly oriental design touches. In fact, in the book Diary of an Idle Woman in Sicily, author F. Elliott described the church as “totally oriental”, further stating that it wouldn’t be out of place in Baghdad or Damascus.

Interestingly enough, the red domes that are among the most noticeable features of the church today were not originally colored that way. During the 19^th century, after an architect saw that the domes contained pieces of red plaster, he decided that they should all be colored bright red, and they remain so to this day.

The interior of the church is designed on a square flank with a Latin Cross formation, and includes a single nave, two aisles, and three apses. The presbytery and the four corners of the square each have a single dome.

Access to the garden is by way of a cloister, which is largely unchanged from its original appearance. With double columns decorated with vegetable motifs, the cloister truly emphasizes the church’s Arabian design heritage.