We left Palermo this morning and headed toward Mazara del Vallo, with a stop in Monreale along the way. Monreale is a town perched on the hills overlooking Palermo and the lush valley below, known as La Conca d’Oro, or “the Golden Shell.” The name comes from the shape of the valley, while the “golden” part refers to the abundance of lemon and orange trees planted here during the Arab period.
The main attraction in Monreale is the 12th-century Norman cathedral, the Duomo of Monreale, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for its spectacular mosaics and for combining Norman, Arab, and Byzantine architectural styles.
There is a great legend about how the cathedral came to be built. According to the story, William II of Sicily fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale. The Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream and told him to build a church where he was sleeping. When the tree was removed, a treasure trove of gold coins was supposedly discovered among its roots, which helped finance the construction of the cathedral. I’m not sure how much of that is history and how much is a good story, but it certainly makes the cathedral’s origin more interesting!
Inside, the mosaics are overwhelmingly gold, which helped reflect the limited light inside the cathedral. The images, depicting stories from Genesis and the life of Jesus, are arranged in tiers and divided by horizontal and vertical bands. The scale and detail were really magnificent. Here are some pictures.
We also briefly visited a local shop where they make mosaics. It was interesting to see the work that goes into creating them.
Here are some pictures of the town and surrounding countryside.
After our visit to the Duomo, we headed to an agriturismo, a traditional Sicilian farm that has been approved for dining and lodging, for lunch. The setting was beautiful, but amazingly, the food actually exceeded the view. And that’s saying something!
Then it was back on the bus for our ultimate destination, Mazara del Vallo. On the way, we stopped at a grocery store since there isn’t one close to our hotel. Anne and I stocked up on cheese and salami for dinner, because apparently we are now capable of preparing a gourmet Sicilian meal without actually cooking anything.
My hotel room has a view of the Mediterranean, and I arrived just in time to see a beautiful sunset. Not a bad way to end the day.
After we checked in, the group took an orientation walk. Nico showed us where to find the bank, pharmacy, restaurants, and, most importantly, the gelato store. Clearly, he understands what matters.
Anne and I took our grocery-store picnic back to the hotel, enjoyed our cheese and salami with a view of the Mediterranean, and called it an early night.
