Duomo di Monreale

The Norman cathedral, built in the second half of the 12th century, is one of the strongest surviving examples of Arab-Norman-Byzantine style anywhere in Europe. From outside it's an austere fortress with Arab ornamentation; inside, roughly six and a half thousand square metres of golden mosaics. It's the whole Bible told in pictures, from the creation of the world to the apostles. The apse is dominated by Christ Pantocrator, with the Virgin and Child below him, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, and the apostles, and above them choirs of angels and six-winged seraphim. The main altar is Baroque, by Valadier. The French king Louis IX, Saint Louis, is also buried here.

Beside the cathedral is a Benedictine cloister with hundreds of paired columns, each decorated differently, their capitals thick with leaves and biblical scenes. Most people underestimate it, which is a mistake, since for many visitors it ends up being a more powerful experience than the interior itself.

Monreale is part of the UNESCO Arab-Norman Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale route, the same route Cefalù belongs to, forty minutes from the villa. For the cathedral alone, two and a half hours of driving isn't really worth it; it makes more sense to combine it with Palermo, which lies eight kilometres below it. It works out best on the day you fly in or out, since the villa's car is parked at Palermo airport anyway.