Cattedrale di Monreale

Monreale Cathedral, on a hillside above Palermo, contains one of the largest mosaic schemes in the medieval world. It was founded in the 1170s by the Norman king William II of Sicily — according to legend, after the Virgin appeared to him in a dream while he slept under a carob tree. A more likely motive was rivalry with the archbishop of Palermo, who was building his own cathedral at the time. A Benedictine abbey came with the church, and in 1183 it became the seat of an archbishop. Since 2015 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù and Monreale.

From outside, the church looks relatively plain between its two western towers. The main portal has bronze doors signed by Bonanno Pisano in 1186, while the side door on the left has bronze panels by Barisano da Trani from 1179. On the north side a Renaissance portico was added by the Gagini family between 1547 and 1569.

Inside, the walls are covered with about 6,500 square metres of gold-ground mosaic, made in the Byzantine manner from the late 12th to the mid-13th century by local and Venetian craftsmen. Biblical scenes, Adam and Eve among them, run along the walls. Above the high altar, the half-dome of the apse is filled by an immense Christ Pantocrator, his hand raised in blessing. The nave's columns are ancient ones reused, most of grey granite. The porphyry tomb of William I and the tomb of William II lie in the choir, which was restored after a fire in 1811. The heart of the French king Louis IX, who died on crusade in 1270, was also buried here.

Next door, the cloister of the former abbey, completed around 1200, is a separate ticketed visit and should not be missed. More than two hundred pairs of slender columns carry pointed arches. Many of the shafts are inlaid with spirals and zigzags of coloured and gilded glass, and no two carved capitals are alike, with foliage, biblical scenes and allegories. In one corner, a small enclosure holds the monks' marble fountain.

Getting there

Monreale is about 8 km south-west of central Palermo. City bus 389 runs from Piazza Indipendenza, near the Norman Palace, up Corso Calatafimi and stops in the square next to the cathedral; the journey takes around 30 minutes depending on traffic. Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) is about 20 km away.