The mosaics of Monreal Cathedral, Sicily<\/p><\/div>\n

The greatness of the church lies in its beautiful gold mosaics, over 6,000 sq meters of them covering the walls and pillars.\u00a0 The most famous and amazing of these is the image of Christ situated in the apse above the alter, raising his hand in the blessing. \u00a0Its so finely detailed that to me it looked almost like a painting when I studied it in the cathedral.\u00a0 There are also many scenes from the Old and New Testaments, a few examples of which follow.\u00a0 These mosaics were mostly the work of Byzantine artists.<\/p>\n

There is an impressive collection of church memorabilia and history in the treasury, which you can see for a small charge \u00a0Here you can see old bishop’s robes and chalices, and some interesting works of art.\u00a0 Admission to the treasury also lets you visit the cathedral’s panoramic terrace with amazing views of the abbey courtyard and the snow covered hills behind it (we visited in February and were surprised by snow in Palermo), as you can see in the image below.<\/p>\n