MONREALE
sicilia
Monreale is a town in the Province of Palermo, on the slope of Monte Caputo. After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs in 831, the Bishop of Palermo was forced to move his seat outside the capital. The role of the new cathedral was assigned to a modest little church, Aghia Kiriaki in the village nearby which was later called Monreale. After the Norman conquest in 1072 Christians got back the old city cathedral. Probably this role as temporary ecclesiastical centre played a part in King William II's decision to built here his famous cathedral. The town was for long a mere village, and started its expansion when the Norman Kings of Sicily chose the area as their hunting resort, building here a palace. Under King William II the large monastery of Benedictines coming from Cava de' Tirreni, with its church, was founded and provided with a large asset. It is noteworthy that the new edifice had also an important defensive destination.
Cathedral
The focal point of the town is its Cathedral: an amalgamation of Arab, Byzantine and Norman artistic styles framed by traditional Romanesque architecture, representing the best of XII-century culture. It was begun in 1174 by William II, and in 1182 the church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was, by a bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to the rank of a metropolitan cathedral. Externally, most of Monreale Cathedral is not particularly striking. Two massive square bell towers flank the main church entrance. The porticos are not original components of the structure. Framed by a typical medieval arch, the Romanesque bronze doors under the main portico were manufactured in the workshops of Bonanno of Pisa in 1186. Constructed in the same year, the side doors were designed by Barisano of Trani set within a squared frame decorated in Arab mosaic. Each door features panels on which are carved various religious fgures amidst floral and other symbolic motifs.
The Cathedral's plan combines elements of both a traditional Western (Latin) basilica and an Eastern (Orthodox) one. The combination of Greek and Latin elements is a distinct feature of Norman architecture in Italy. The Cathedral has a wide central nave between two smaller aisles. Nine monolithic columns of gray granite support the eight pointed arches on each side of the central aisle, for a total of 18 columns, each bearing a Corinthian style capital. Each individual capital is sculpted with a different motif featuring religious figures and symbols. Only one of the 18 columns is not made of gray granite, the first column on the right of the front entrance, which is made of "cipollina" marble. There is no triforium, but a high clerestory with wide two-light windows, with simple tracery like those in the nave-aisles and throughout the church, which give sufficient (if anything too much) light. The original ceiling in carved and painted wood was destroyed in a fire in 1811 and reconstructed trying to reproduce the original. The XVI-century floor of the church is composed of white marble with multi-coloured granite and porphyry patterns and borders.
The walls of the nave, transept and apses are entirely decorated with mosaics on a gilded background. The mosaics covering the cathedral walls are one of the world's largest displays of this art, surpassed only by Istanbul's Basilica of Saint Sofia. Made in the late XII/early XIII centuries, the mosaics on the walls represent the Old and New Testaments (around 130 individual mosaic scenes), with inscriptions in Greek and Latin and are work of Byzantine and Venetian craftsmen.
Dominating everything is the imposing mosaic of Christ Pantocrator ("Ruler of All") located on the central apse over the main altar. Beneath the stupendous portrait of Jesus is a mosaic of the Theotokos (Mother of God) enthroned with the Christ child on her lap. This depiction is flanked by mosaics of the angels and various saints and apostles. Along the right nave are the XII-century sarcophagus of William I, and the sepulchre of William II, remade in the XVI-century. Always in this nave, is the Chapel of St. Benedict, a Renaissance work decorated with marble tiles, with low-relief sculptures. The left nave opens into the XVII-century Crocifisso Chapel, and to the Treasure of the Cathedral, which preserves Gothic relic containers, and sacred items from the XIII to the XVII century.
Cloister - Attached to the Cathedral there is the Benedictine cloister that reflects a mixture of influences. The cloister, made in the XII century, is a square courtyard surrounded by 228 twin columns some inlayed with Byzantine-style mosaic work, each supporting an ornately carved capital. The columns are decorated with mosaic tiles and with a great variety of motifs including arabesques, knights, saints and Bible scenes, gargoyles. Perhaps the crowning glory of the cloister is the Arab fountain in the southwest corner. The fountain, in the form of a palm-tree, is almost a mini-cloister within the cloister, surrounded by its own four-sided colonnade. The garden terrace or "Belvedere" is also worth visiting. Affording a panoramic view of Palermo, it is reached through a courtyard near the cloister, in a corner of the square.
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