The Great Presbytery of Monreale, wide and compact, is square shaped. The size could be determined by a mixed commission and thus by a double rite: Latin and Greek. This characteristic could explain the presence of the iconostasis, which was definitively removed in 1658. The Great Presbytery can be divided into three parts: the Presbytery itself, which is the part next to the hall of the faithful. The Anti-Presbytery and the Post-Presbytery.
While in Cefalù there is a longitudinal and elongated Bema, in Monreale the Presbytery, the area around the high altar where the presbyters take their seats to officiate at worship, is larger than in other religious buildings. The Great Presbytery, a space composed of a double volume, is found in Monreale and in the original layout of Palermo Cathedral.
