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journey to Sicily. 28. Palermo-Monreale - December 2010

28. Monreale (Palermo) (photo by Luigi Bologna)

Monroe, Mt. 300 m asl on the slopes of Monte Caputo, on a terrace overlooking the valley dell'Oreto and the Conca d'Oro is a bustling town dicirca 37.ooo population.
from Wikipedia: "The importance of Monreale is beginning to be that with the 'advent of the Norman dynasty towards' XI century. It was in this place where the Norman kings retreated to rest from the toils of war and the government of Sicily. It was a night of 1171 that King William II said the Good, was in a dream the apparition of Our Lady revealed that the place where he had hidden a huge treasure (booty of his father), with whom William was to erect a temple dedicated to her. The king did not start without delay to the construction of the temple, the Archbishop's Palace and the cloister. Dispose than a hundred monks from the Abbey of Cava , headed by the abbot Theobald, he moved to Monroe to officiate in the temple. They arrived at Montreal on March 20 1176 and the abbot Theobald was given the title of "Lord of the City." On February 5, 1182, Lucio III , at the request of the same William, raised in the church of Monreale "Metropolitan Cathedral". First archbishop the diocese of Monreale was one 'William the monastery of the Benedictines. At the end of the seventeenth century, the Archbishop of Monreale owned 72 estates. From the elevation at the Metropolitan Cathedral today, the seat of Monroe had 54 archbishops, and among these, 14 cardinals of the Church. Even before the cathedral was finished, the world talked about it with wonder: the same Pope Alexander III, in a note sent to the king in 1174 , expressed her joy to the solemnity of the monument. "

; Monreale Duomo view from the terrace of

; ; Monreale Duomo view from the terrace of

; view from the terrace of Monreale Duomo

The Duomo is the architectural masterpiece of the Norman period. It was founded by William II in 1174. Despite some questionable reaturi of past centuries, has come to us intact in its splendor. The facade is locked between two mighty square tower. The inside is indescribable slendore.

Il pavimento musivo, a dischi di porfido e granito, con fasce marmoree intrecciate a linee spezzate, è quello originario, completato nel XVI secolo.

Il chiostro dell'antico Convento dei Benedettini, è un miracolo di architettura e policromia. E' anch'esso del tempo di Guglielmo II (ultimo quarto del sec. XII).

                                              Secular tree in the park