In the mountain area close to Palermo is the picturesque town of Monreale, a townscape that for more than eight hundred years has been dominated by a single building: Monreale Cathedral was built due to a struggle for power between the Bishop Of Palermo and the Norman King, William The Second.

Architecturally, the cathedral possesses a wonderful harmony of styles including those of Norman, Romanic and Arabian. With the building of the cathedral and the elevation of the city to an archbishopric, William The Second had created a worthy competitor to Palermo Cathedral.

The Norman cathedral and its adjacent cloister are two historical jewels that give a special significance to the small town of Monreale and the buildings proudly overlook their former rivals in the Sicilian metropolis of Palermo.