← Palermo Marathon·Day trip

Monreale: Gold Mosaics Above Palermo

A Norman cathedral covered in Byzantine mosaics, with a cloister of paired columns. A cheap bus ride out of Palermo, and a short but uphill walk at the other end.

DurationDay trip
TransitAMAT bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza, about 40 minutes
DepartsPalermo

After the Palermo Marathon: Monreale

The Route: Palermo → Monreale → Palermo Logistics: AMAT bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza, roughly hourly, about 40 minutes each way. The village is on a hillside, so expect steps and slopes. Marathon Month: November Duration: Day trip

Palermo (Piazza Indipendenza) ──(bus 389, about 40 mins)──> Monreale (Piazza Vittorio Emanuele)
                                                                      │
                                         cathedral and cloister, 5 min walk

The marathon is on a Sunday and the Monday after is the better day for Monreale, because the cathedral can be busier at weekends and your quads will want something that involves standing still and looking up. The mosaics inside the cathedral cover roughly 6,000 square metres of wall in gold-ground scenes from the Old and New Testaments, laid down by Byzantine craftsmen under the Norman king William II in the 1170s and 1180s. The effect on a grey November morning is of walking into a lit lantern.

Check opening hours at the cathedral's own ticket office or on the official tourism pages before you go. Monday opening can differ from the weekend.

November in Monreale: the village sits on the slope of Monte Caputo about 300 m above the sea, so it is a few degrees cooler than Palermo and the wind can be sharp. Rain is possible. Bring a light waterproof, and a scarf or shawl if you need to cover your shoulders for the cathedral.

Getting there

AMAT bus 389 leaves from Piazza Indipendenza, by the Palazzo dei Normanni, and runs roughly hourly. The ride takes about 40 minutes and stops close to the cathedral square. Buy the ticket at a tabaccheria before boarding or check whether the driver sells them; the fare is a few euros, so use any figure you find as a guide only. Check the current timetable at amat.pa.it, especially for the last bus back.

The cathedral and the cloister

A dress code applies in the cathedral: covered shoulders and knees, and no hats. The cathedral ticket is about €4 to €6 and the cloister about €8 on the figures available, but prices change, so confirm at the door. Cloister hours were listed as Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:00 and Sunday from 9:00 to 13:30, so a Monday visit should fit; check before you commit.

Start with the cathedral. Allow 30 to 45 minutes to read the mosaics, which run in bands round the nave: the creation scenes on the upper walls, and a very large Christ Pantocrator filling the apse. Then walk to the cloister, a short way along the side of the church. It has 228 slim paired columns, and each capital is carved differently, some with foliage and some with figures. The courtyard is flat and has benches in the sun, which suits the legs on the day after a marathon.

A rooftop walk over the cathedral roof is sometimes offered for an extra fee. It involves steep, narrow stairs, and you may not want them on tired legs.

Lunch and the walk back

The streets near the cathedral have a handful of trattorie. Order whatever pasta is on the menu and a plate of sfincione or arancine if they have them. Walk down to Belvedere or the gardens at the village edge for a view across the Conca d'Oro, the plain of orchards where Palermo sits, towards the sea. The descent is easy; the way back up is not, so do the climb first.

Getting back

Take bus 389 back to Piazza Indipendenza, and allow a margin if you have a flight or a train that evening. The last service times differ between weekdays and Sundays, so check them on arrival.