Palermo Cathedral

The patronage "SANTA MARIA ASSUNTA" (in German: "Mariä Himmelfahrt") of this church refers to one of the many memorial or festival days in honor of the Blessed Mother Mary. It goes back to the festival of her physical assumption into heaven, which is the (Catholic) Church celebrates annually on August 15. In the Orthodox churches the festival is called "Assumption of the Virgin Mary".
In many rural areas it is customary for bundles of herbs to be collected by the population on this day and blessed during the festival service.

On the floor in front of the sanctuary is a meridian, which was installed by the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. It is a kind of sundial, with which Piazzi wanted to make the more modern day division based on the sunny day more popular than the traditional classification "all'italiana". The sun's light, which falls through a small opening in one of the domes in the aisle, always crosses an inlaid brass line at exactly 12 noon. By changing the position of the sun in the course of the year, the solstices, the equinox and the signs of the zodiac can be read, which is also of importance for the determination of the date of the Easter.
(Source: Wikipedia)

The new building was constructed in 1184–1185