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The town of Monreale (royal mountain) straddles a slope on Mount Caputo about 8 kms south of Palermo's cathedral. The town overlooks Palermo & the "Conca d'Oro," (golden shell), the fertile valley beyond Palermo. The Cathedral (Duomo) of Monreale, the last & most beautiful of the Norman churches built in Sicily, is one of the architectural wonders of the medieval world, & the cathedral & adjacent Benedictine cloister represent the largest concentration of Norman, Arab & Byzantine art in one place in the world. Although Palermo's cathedral is larger, Monreale's cathedral is far closer to its original 12th century state. The huge cathedral & cloister complex was built in 8 years by Norman king William II (1153 - 1189) between 1174 - 1182.
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Western Europe
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