Page 146 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

dressed in skimpy beach clothes.

The mosaics

The gleaming mosaics, almost certainly executed by Greek and Byzantine craftsmen,
are a magnificent achievement, thought to have been completed in just ten years. They
were designed for worshippers to be able to read the Testaments straight from the
walls, and eyes are drawn immediately to the all-embracing half-figure of Christ in

benediction in the central apse. The head and shoulders alone stand almost 20m high,
face full of compassion, curving arms with outstretched hands seemingly
encompassing the whole beauty of the church. Underneath are an enthroned Virgin and
Child, attendant angels and, below, the ranks of saints – each subtly coloured and
identified by name. The two side-apses are dedicated to saints Peter (right) and Paul
(left), the arches before each apse graphically displaying the martyrdom of each –

respectively, an inverse crucifixion and a beheading. The nave mosaics then start with
the Creation (above the pillars to the right of the altar) and run around the whole
church, while the aisle mosaics depict the teachings of Jesus. Most scenes are
instantly recognizable: Adam and Eve; Abraham on the point of sacrificing his son;
positively jaunty Noah’s-ark scenes showing the ship being built, recalcitrant animals

being loaded aboard and Noah’s family peering out of the hatches; the Feeding of the
Five Thousand; and the Creation itself, a set of glorious, simplistic panels portraying
God filling His world with animals, water, light … and Man.

Above the two thrones (royal and episcopal) are more mosaics: William receiving
the crown from Christ; and the king offering the cathedral to the Virgin. Both William I
and William II are buried here in side chapels, the latter resting in the white marble

sarcophagus to the right of the apse.

Chiostro dei Benedettini

Enter from the corner of Piazza Gugliemo II, by the right-hand tower of the Duomo • Daily 9am–7pm, last entry
6.30pm • €6

The Chiostro dei Benedettini, or cloisters, is one of the indisputed highlights of the
Duomo complex, an elegant arcaded quadrangle with 216 twin columns supporting
slightly pointed arches – a legacy of the Arab influence in Sicilian art. No two of the
carved capitals are the same: on one, armed hunters do battle with winged beasts;

another has two men lifting high a casket of wine; while flowers, birds, snakes and
geometric shapes dip and dance from column to column.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: MONREALE

By bus Bus #389 runs frequently from Palermo’s Piazza dell’Indipendenza (outside
the Porta Nuova, reached by bus #109 from Stazione Centrale) through the western