★ 6 Duomo di Monreale (Monreale Cathedral)

According to a legend, William II of Sicily fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale. The Holy Virgin appeared to him in his dreams and suggested that he build a church where he lay. While clearing the land, a treasure trove of gold coins was found in the roots of the carob tree, which were later used to finance the construction of the structure. It is more likely that the church was part of a plan of large constructions in competition with the then bishop of Palermo, Walter Ophamil, who had ordered the large Cathedral of Palermo. The construction of Monreale, started in 1172, was approved by Pope Alexander III with a bull on 30 December 1174. Works, including an annexed abbey, were completed only in 1267 and the church consecrated at the presence of Pope Clement IV. In 1178 Pope Lucius III established the archdiocese of Monreale and the abbey church was elevated to the rank of cathedral. The archbishops obtained by the kings of Sicily a wide array of privileges and lands in the whole Italian peninsula.
In 1270 the heart of Saint Louis IX, King of France, brother of King Charles I of Naples, was buried here.
In 1547-1569 a portico was added to the northern side, designed by Giovanni Domenico Gagini and Fazio Gagini, in Renaissance style, covered by a cross vault and featuring eleven round arches supported by Corinthian columns. In 1559 most of the internal pavement was added.

The archiepiscopal palace and monastic buildings on the south side were of great size and magnificence, and were surrounded by a massive precinct wall, crowned at intervals by twelve towers. This has been mostly rebuilt, and but little now remains except ruins of some of the towers, a great part of the monks' dormitory and frater, and the splendid cloister, completed about 1200.
The latter is well preserved, and is one of the finest European cloisters extant both for its size and the beauty of its detailing. It is about 2,200 m2, with pointed arches decorated with diaper work, supported on pairs of columns in white marble, 216 in all, which are alternately plain and decorated with bands of patterns in gold and colors, made of glass tesserae, arranged either spirally or vertically along each shaft. The marble capitals are each carved with foliage, biblical scenes and allegories; no two are the same. At one corner, a square pillared projection contains the marble fountain or monks' lavatorium.
The plan of the church is based on models of Clunian origin from northern France. The facade is flanked by two towers, like Cefalù Cathedral, while the large three-apse choir is similar to one of the first three-apse churches.
The basilican nave is wide, with narrow aisles. On each side, columns of grey oriental granite (except one, which is of cipolin marble) support eight pointed arches much stilted. The capitals of these (mainly Corinthian) are also of the classical period. 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 light.
The other half, eastern in two senses, is both wider and higher than the nave. It also is divided into a central space with two…

Kitzinger, Ernst (1991). I mosaici di Monreale. Palermo: Flaccovio Editore. ISBN 88-7804-065-7.
AA. VV. (2004). Il duomo di Monreale - architettura di luce e icona. Abadir.
Millunzi, Gaetano (1986). Il Duomo di Monreale. Rome: Vivere In.