Tourist Attraction in Monreale:
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Nuova

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova is the main place of Catholic worship in Monreale, archbishop's seat of the Archdiocese of the same name. Built from 1174 on the wish of William II of Altavilla, king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189, is famous for the rich Byzantine mosaics that decorate the interior. In August 1926 Pope Pius XI raised it to the dignity of a minor basilica. Since July 3, 2015, he is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site under the Norman Arabian Way of Palermo, Cefalù and Monreale. "William the Good, succeeding his father on the throne of Sicily, would fall asleep under a carob, fatigue, In his dream, the Madonna, who was very devoted to him, revealed to him the secret of a ruthlessness with these words: "In the place where you are sleeping, the greatest treasure of the world is concealed: dissect and build a temple in I was amazed to find a treasure in gold coins that were immediately destined for the construction of the Duomo di Monreale, which were called for the creation of Byzantine Greek mosaicists in the interior. Wilhelm the good was more focused on the abundance of the the inner aspect of the cathedral, with its golden mosaic, as it approached the soul of the human being as a fundamental aspect of being rather than the exterior aspect. cow looked more closely at the outside aspect of the cathedral of Palermo, for for him the exterior beauty was the one that most affected the attention of the people. The first favored the spread of the Gospel message among the less fortunate through the precious cycles depicted by the Sacred Scriptures, the second exalted the power of the spirit through the bold architectural structures. Conceived as a church of the Benedictine territorial abbey, independent of the chair of Palermo, in 1178 the abbot William. Spanish period From 1547 to 1569, along the northern side of the cathedral was built the oldest porch, built on the design of Giovanni Domenico Gagini and Fazio Gagini in Renaissance style, covered with cruise lines and open on the outside with eleven arches to everything sixth resting on Corinthian columns. In 1595 Archbishop Ludovico II de Torres promoted the construction of the Chapel of San Castrense, the altar contains the relics of the saint. In 1690 - 1692, adjacent to the Apseuld of Sao Paulo, the Chapel of the Crucifixion, in the Baroque style, was designed by the Jesuit Angelo Italia of Licata. The building follows the pattern of the great Benedictine Basilicas from Cluniac. The entrance is preceded by the eighteenth-century porch, baroque style, which opens on the outside with three arches, all over the sixth, resting on Tuscan columns; beneath it, there is the portal, closed by two bronze hinges, by Bonanno Pisano and dating back to 1185 1186. At the top of the facade, ending with a low triangular tympanum, an ogival monofora is framed by an adornment blind arches interwoven with each other. The vast interior of the cathedral has a Latin cross-shaped plant with a little protruding transect which in fact is a continuation at the sides of the presbytery of the lateral aisles. The ceilings are exposed beams painted in the aisles and arabic stalactites on the cruise, which were restored in 1811 after a fire that had destroyed part of the roof. The floor, completed in the 16th century, is mosaic, with porphyry and granite discs and marble bands woven with broken lines. The organ has two consoles. The larger one is placed to the left of the baroque altar and consists of a wooden cabin decorated with sculptural reliefs. It counts as 61 keyboards each, and 32-note concave-radial pedals and 195 bilge blocks for registers, pairs, unions and annulators.

Attractions in Monreale