Monreale Cathedral
There’s a Sicilian saying that if you don’t see Monreale Cathedral in your lifetime then you die like a pig. The church is definitely worth seeing before you die, not just to avoiding becoming bacon, pork chops or pancetta, it is a truly breathtaking edifice, most famed for its exquisite glass mosaics that cover its interior walls and the many twisting columns that support its gilded wooden roof.
Set on the slopes of Monte Capulto, Monreale offers spectacular views of Palermo and ‘La Conca d’Oro’ (The Golden Shell) valley that is home to groves of lemons, oranges, olives and almonds. The town’s crowning glory is the cathedral begun by the Norman king, William II the Good, in 1174. According to legend, the king built the cathedral after a dream where the Virgin Mary told him to build a church with funds that his father, King William I the Bad, had stolen from the state. A more pragmatic view is that the cathedral was intended to put Norman Sicily on the map as an ecclesiastical and world power.
The result is a heady mix of Norman Gothic, Arab, Byzantine and Romanesque architecture that gives the cathedral an almost fairytale appearance with its square towers, bronze-relief doors, pointed arches and brightly-coloured tiled roof. The Benedictine monastery attached to the church has a cloister with a dizzying array of carved columns and arches enclosing a garden and Moorish-inspired fountain. Inside the cathedral is almost what could be a Sistine Chapel of mosaics. Brilliantly coloured mosaics on a golden background portray a cycle of biblical events in the Old and New Testament, the most dominant portraits being of St. Peter, St. Paul and a magnificent image of Christ the Pantocrator with his arms held wide which dominates the middle apse. William II achieved his dream, and some immortality, given his remains are housed in a white marble tomb inside his creation.
Useful links
Monreale Cathedral
Added 2008/06/24 @ 20:34:42
Average customer rating
awaiting 5 vote(s)...
