This church is a magnificent example of fusion among the Islamic, the Byzantine and the Romanesque culture. The village of Monreale, placed on the Caputo hill near Palermo, is well known all around the world for its Norman Dome built between the 1172 and the 1186. This is the most beautiful Norman church in Sicily and one of the most important architectonical monuments of the Middle Age.

 

This church has a Latin cross structure divided into two floors. All the three walls of its aisles, its apse and its arches are covered by marble and by wonderful mosaics. On the right side there are the mausoleums containing the Guglielmo il Buono and the Guglielmo II il Malo mortal remains. On the left side there is the crypt entry: here there is the opulent Guglielmo II treasure where there also is a thorn of the Christ crown kept in a golden and silver urn. In this Dome you can also see the precious urn containing the guts of San Luigi king of France whose corpse, arriving from Africa, remained in Monreale for a brief period of time.

At the second floor you should see the King Ruggero Room mosaics, the Montalto Duke Room, the Salone d´Ercole and the ancient prisons. The Dome cloister is placed in the contiguous monastery; it is a medieval construction made up by a wide porch supported by 200 columns ornamented by mosaics. Their capitals sculptures are elegant and odd.

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