In the Monreale Cathedral mosaic decoration, there are notable elements of the Roman-Cosmatesque style, for example in the mosaic decoration of the bands and the geometrically decorated fields. This type of decoration is visible in the bay of the Williams, located in the right wing of the presbytery...

The flooring of the Monreale Cathedral is characterised by a mixture of styles. The Islamic style is predominant, especially in the designs of the carpets. This type of decoration is found in the Great Presbytery, consisting of 48 panels, 44 of which are characterised by the use of Islamic designs, ...

The dominant style of the flooring of Monreale, together with the Islamic style and the Roman-Cosmatesque component, is Byzantine-Cassinian. In fact, the ongoing work carried out between 1170 and 1180 was influenced by both the Salerno Cathedral and the nearby churches of Palermo. The purely Benedic...

The sovereign, born in 1120, was the fourth son of Roger II and Elvira of Castile. Educated at the court of Palermo, permeated by Arab culture, he was said to spend most of his time entertaining himself, often neglecting administrative affairs. Associated with his father's throne in 1151, he was cro...

The tomb of William II, made with white marble, was commissioned by Ludovico I Torres in 1575 and placed in the Cathedral’s right transept. Of Renaissance style, it has an epitaph that praises the life and deeds of the great Sicilian sovereign. The long text was composed by the Monreale poet Anton...

During the Muslim rule, from 948, Sicily was governed by the Kalbita Emirate, who carried out a territorial reorganisation of the island by dividing it into three large areas, called the Valleys. This subdivision, already reported in a Norman document of 1094, described as "antiquae divisiones sarac...

Uriel, meaning 'light of God' in Hebrew, is one of the four archangels in the mosaics of Cefalù. Patron of the arts and wisdom, he is often represented with a book or scroll in his hand. While there were seven or even nine angels worshipped in the early Christian centuries, the Catholic Church now ...

The first organ was installed in the Monreale Cathedral in 1503 by Cardinal Borgia and, in 1600, it was moved to the ambo by Ludovico II de Torres. In 1688, there were various transformations inside the Cathedral. The ambo was removed, the organ was placed on the right side of the presbytery and ano...

Hieratic and solemn, the half-length Christ Pantocrator appears and emerges from a precious golden background, like a casket of divine light. The Pantocrator, from the Greek word for ruler of all things, blesses the faithful with his right hand: the two arched fingers symbolise Christ's dual nature,...

Capital, from the Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput , i.e. head, is an architectural element placed as the end of a load-bearing structure, such as a pilaster or a column. The capital is usually decorated according to the canons of the Classical period and the relevant styles: Doric, Ionic, Cori...