{"id":7153,"date":"2005-10-05T17:43:01","date_gmt":"2005-10-06T00:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/?p=7153"},"modified":"2011-12-06T18:44:05","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T02:44:05","slug":"monreale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/2005\/10\/05\/monreale\/","title":{"rendered":"Monreale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Today we got going slowly, did a small amount of shopping near the hotel, including finally getting Aviva a European current heating pad, and then took a cab up to Monreale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A figure outside the medical supply we found<\/p><\/div>\n

We arrived outside the Duomo in the main square in Monreale; Monreale is a small town on a hill about 8 kilometres outside of Palermo. The Duomo was built by William II around 1180; it is one of the best remaining examples of Norman architecture<\/a>. We walked around to the Cloisters, which are behind the church. Its a huge open square with a columnade on all sides and a fountain in one corner. All the columns are unique in base, column and capital.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
A detail of the head of the fountain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A number of views and details of some of the columns in the Cloister <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The fountain at the Cloisters <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The four corners of the Cloisters – the bottom right is the fountain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The four corners of the Cloisters – the bottom right is the fountain <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The four corners of the Cloisters – the bottom right is the fountain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The four corners of the Cloisters – the bottom right is the fountain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

We walked back around the front of the Duomo and went inside.<\/p>\n

\"Center <\/a>
Center view of the facade of the Duomo of Monreale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a>
Left view of the facade of the Duomo of Monreale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a>
Right view of the facade of the Duomo of Monreale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The doors of the Duomo <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The interior is decorated with mosaics, all over the upper reaches of the Duomo. Its believed the same craftsmen did the mosaics at Capella Palatina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
A confessional <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A detail of the ceiling <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A light on the side of the aisles <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A view of over the main altar <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Cappella <\/a>
Cappella del Crocifisso <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The treasury <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"View <\/a>
View down the main aisle of the Duomo in Monreale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"View <\/a>
View down the main aisle of the Duomo in Monreale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

We ate lunch at Taverna del Pavone, a little outdoor trattoria. I liked the food, Aviva thought it was okay.<\/p>\n

We walked back to the Duomo and found a Monreale taxi sitting there, so we took it back to the city (the ride back was cheaper than the ride out, so you might want to consider that when planning a cab out and back).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A view of Palermo from just below Monreale<\/p><\/div>\n

We were dropped off outside of Chiesa di San Dominico, which is near the silver shops. Aviva wanted to consider a ring she had seen a day ago. But, we forgot about siesta and it was about 14:00. So, we had gellato and started walking down a street with outdoor vendors which went on for a number of blocks on Via Bandiera.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A view towards Via Roma on Via Bandiera<\/p><\/div>\n

We bought a few things, then walked back to the silversmiths – the ring had real diamonds, not marcasite, so it was more than Aviva wanted to spend. We strolled back to the hotel and then I went down the street to a Bancomat (automated teller machine) and a tabachi to get stamps to mail some postcards.<\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nTranslate<\/span><\/a>\"\"\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we got going slowly, did a small amount of shopping near the hotel, including finally getting Aviva a European current heating pad, and then took a cab up to Monreale. We arrived outside the Duomo in the main square in Monreale; Monreale is a small town on a hill about 8 kilometres outside of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[77,1020,1015,143],"tags":[1022,320,2405,998,1018,1021],"class_list":["post-7153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-italy","category-monreale","category-palermo","category-travel-foreign","tag-architectural-history","tag-architecture","tag-monreale","tag-naples-and-sicily-2005","tag-norman-architecture","tag-william-ii"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t