1 / 19

Monreale private tour: Stunning mosaics & Christian–Islamic blend

Guided tour of Monreale, just 5 km from Palermo to 310 m above sea level on the hill of Mount Caputo. The visit will start from the cathedral, symbol of the town and declared in 2015 Unesco World Heritage monument. The Cathedral is undoubtedly an architectural masterpiece of the 12th century, in which different tastes are linked to the architecture of northern Europe, Romanesque art and Arabic art. Outside it is richly enriched by two bronze doors, the first of the Bonanno da Pisa and the second, not least, of the Barisano di Trani who also built that of Ravello and the cathedral of Trani. The interior is illuminated by magnificent gold mosaics that culminate in the Christ Pantocrator in the apsidal basin as the highest expression of figurative art. The tour continues with the visit of the monastery and the cloister flanked to the cathedral in the ancient Benedictine monastery and with the belvedere overlooking the valley and the golden basin of orange and citrus groves.