Monreale and mosaics

Today we took a trip to Monreale to see the famed mosaics. It is a hilltop village about 8 kilometres out of Palermo. Every centimetre of the walls, ceilings and floors of the Benedictine monastery church are covered in intricate and beautifully coloured mosaics.It is quite spectacular to see; if we had not been to Ravenna previously we would have been totally wow-ed. In Ravenna there are many buildings with the spectacular mosaics and I think the colours are better in Ravenna. However it was certainly worth visiting for the other points of interest.

Mosaics

Inlaid marble

The cloister garden was interesting too as it also had its share of mosaics and intricate carved pillars. Water is scared here in Sicily and only the toughest plants survive. It was interesting to see that the feature trees in the cloister were an olive, a fig, a pomegranate and a date palm.

One of the specialities of Sicily is almonds so today we tried an almond tart full of marzipan ... very delicious.

We have also done some general sightseeing on the on-off bus. The commentary was interesting in its approach to public spending, corruption and the Mafia.It is very possible to see things started and never finished as they ran out of money. The university is a great example where buildings have never been finished and what was built has fallen into disrepair.

Time for a drink on the 7th floor balcony ;)