Italy Guide
Sicily
Monreale
The Norman cathedral at MONREALE (Royal Mountain) holds the most impressive and extensive area of Christian medieval mosaic work in the world, the undisputed apex of Sicilian-Norman art. This small hill-town, 8km southwest of Palermo, commands unsurpassed views down the Conca d'Oro Valley, to the capital in the distant bay. Bus #389 runs frequently from Piazza dell'Indipendenza, and the journey takes twenty minutes.
The severe, square-towered exterior of the Duomo (daily 8am–6.30pm, Sun 8am–12.30pm & 3–7pm; free) is no preparation for what's inside. The mosaics were almost certainly executed by Greek and Byzantine craftsmen, and they reveal a unitary plan and inspiration. What immediately draws your attention is the all-embracing half-figure of Christ in the central apse, the head and shoulders alone almost twenty metres high. Beneath sit an enthroned Madonna and Child, attendant angels and, below, ranks of saints, each individually and subtly coloured and identified by name. Worth singling out here is the figure of Thomas à Becket (marked SCS Thomas Cantb), canonized in 1173, just before the mosaics were begun. The nave mosaics are no less remarkable, an animated series that starts with the Creation (to the right of the altar) and runs around the whole church. Most scenes are instantly recognizable: Adam and Eve, Abraham on the point of sacrificing his son, a jaunty Noah's Ark; even the Creation, shown in a set of glorious, simplistic panels portraying God filling his world with animals, water, light … and people.
Ask at the desk by the entrance to climb the terraces (daily 9.30am–5.30pm, Sun 8am–12.30pm & 3.30–7pm; €1.50) in the southwest corner of the cathedral. The steps give access to the roof and leave you standing right above the central apse – an unusual and precarious vantage point.
If you want to stay over, try the Carrubella Park Hotel, Via Umberto I 233 ( 
091.640.2187, 
www.sicilyhotelsnet.it ; Price: €101-125), a pleasant family-run place with great views over the valley of the Conca d'Oro