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Monreale

On the hillside behind Palermo, Monreale has one of the most superb churches in the world, and certainly the most important Norman building in Sicily. The duomo (open 8-6) was built as a political statement by William II in 1182, and he had to invent the discovery of a buried treasure to justify the expenditure. The interior walls are entirely covered with a dazzling expanse of golden mosaics, relating the whole Bible. It is estimated that 2,200kg of pure gold were used. The huge mosaic in the main apse shows Christ Pantocrator reclining on cushions, his hair resembling a turban, like an Oriental potentate; for the Byzantine craftsmen, that was the way He should look. Next door is the remarkable Cloister , a masterpiece of 12th-century art, its arches supported by 228 twin columns with carved capitals, of which very few are alike. In one corner is a Moorish fountain in the form of a palm tree.

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