Monreale
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Monreale | |
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| Comune di Monreale | |
 Interior of Monreale Cathedral. | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Monreale  | |
  Monreale Location of Monreale in Italy  Monreale Monreale (Sicily) | |
| Coordinates:38°04′54″N13°17′20″E/ 38.08167°N 13.28889°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Metropolitan city | Palermo(PA) |
| Frazioni | Aquino, Borgo Fraccia, Borgo Schirò, Cicio di Monreale, Giacalone, Grisì, Monte Caputo, Pietra, Pioppo, Poggio San Francesco, San Martino delle Scale, Sirignano, Sparacia, Tagliavia, Villaciambra |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Alberto Arcidiacono |
| Area | |
| • Total | 530.18 km2(204.70 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 310 m (1,020 ft) |
| Population (31 October 2017)[2] | |
| • Total | 39,032 |
| • Density | 74/km2(190/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Monrealesi |
| Time zone | UTC+1(CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2(CEST) |
| Postal code | 90046 |
| Dialing code | 091 |
| Patron saint | St. Castrensis |
| Saint day | 11 February |
| Website | http:// monrealeduomo.it/ |
Monreale(/ˌmɒnriˈæl/;Italian pronunciation:[monreˈaːle];Sicilian:Murriali[3]) is a town andcomunein theMetropolitan City of Palermo,inSicily,Southern Italy.It is located on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the very fertile valley called"La Conca d'oro"(the Golden Shell), a production area of orange, olive and almond trees, the produce of which is exported in large quantities.[4]The town, which has a population of approximately 39,000, is about 7 kilometres (4 miles) inland (south) ofPalermo,the regional capital.
Monreale formsits own archdioceseand is home toMonreale Cathedral,a historical Norman-Byzantine cathedral, one of several buildings named in aUNESCO World Heritage Site,a group of nine inscribed asArab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale.
History[edit]
After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs (theEmirate of Sicily), theBishop of Palermowas forced to move his seat outside the capital. The role of a cathedral was assigned to a modest little church,Aghia Kiriaki,in a nearby village later known as Monreale. Afterthe Norman conquest in 1072,Christians took backthe former Palermo cathedral.Probably the village's role as a temporary ecclesiastical centre played a part inKing William II'sdecision to build a cathedral here.[5]
Monreale was a small village for a long time. When theNormanKings of Sicilychose the area as their hunting resort, more people and commerce came to the area after the royalty built a palace (probably identifiable with the modern town hall).
Under King William II, a large monastery ofBenedictinescoming fromCava de' Tirreni,with its church, was founded and provided with large assets. The new construction also had an important defensive function. Monreale was the seat of themetropolitanarchbishopof Sicily,[4]which from then on exerted a significant influence over Sicily.
In the 19th century, underage marriages, or those performed without the blessing of the bride's parents, were known as "the marriages of Monreale", according toEliza Lynn Linton.These referred to marriages performed in remote places, where the law was less observed.[6](seeGretna Green).
Main sights[edit]
 | This sectionis written like atravel guide.(March 2022) |
The Cathedral[edit]
The cathedral of Monreale is one of the greatest extant examples ofNorman architecture.It was begun in1174byWilliam IIand completed four years later. In 1182 the church, dedicated to theNativity of the Virgin Mary,was, by a bull of PopeLucius III,elevated to the rank of ametropolitan cathedral.[4]
The church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily. Its size is 102 metres long and 47 meters wide. The façade is characterized by two large towers (one partially destroyed by lightning in 1807) and a portal withRomanesquebronze doors decorated byBonanno Pisano.The interior is on theLatin crossplan, divided by ogival arcades, and features fresco cycles executed during the reigns of William II andTancred of Sicily(c. 1194). Thecloisterhas 228 small columns, each with different decorations influenced by Provençal, Burgundian, Arab and Salerno medieval art.
Other sights[edit]
- Castellaccio( "Bad Castle" ), an example of a fortified convent on the Monte Caputo, at 764 m above sea level. It was built in the 12th century by King William II together with the Cathedral and the annexed monastery. It measures c. 80 x 30 m on an irregular plan with four towers on the western side, a middle tower and an entrance tower on the eastern side.
- Abbey church of San Martino delle Scale,founded in the 6th century AD. It is on theLatin crossplan with a dome, a choir with paintings byPaolo De Matteis(1727), two small sideapses,chapels in thetranseptand ten chapels in each of theaisles.The interior was decorated in 1602 with stuccoes. The baptismal font near thesacristyis from 1396.
- Church of Collegiata (16th-19th centuries)
- Church of Santa Ciriaca
- Church of San Silvestro
International relations[edit]
Monreale istwinnedwith:
Notable people[edit]
- Rocky Segretta(1899–1953), American football player
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011".Italian National Institute of Statistics.Retrieved16 March2019.
- ^"Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018".Italian National Institute of Statistics.Retrieved16 March2019.
- ^"Monreale" is a contraction ofmonte-reale,"royal mountain", so-called from a palace built here byRoger I of Sicily
- ^abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Monreale".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 736.
- ^Rodo Santoro:Palermo Cathedral,' Palermo: 1999, p. 7
- ^Linton, Eliza Lynn (1885).Some Sicilian Customs(41 ed.). 'The Eclectic Magazine'.
The church did not sanction marriage younger than these several ages [20 for men, 18 for women], save in exceptional cases; and anyone who assisted at the marriage of a girl below the age of 18, without the consent of her parents or guardians, was imprisoned for life and forfeited all he had. This law, however, was frequently broken in remote places, and especially about Palermo, where "the marriages of Monreale" have passed into a proverb. When a young girl, say of sixteen, marries and has a good childbirth, they say "She has been to Monreale".
- ^"Bielsko-Biała - Partner Cities".2008 Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej.Retrieved2008-12-10.
External links[edit]
Cathedrals inSicily | ||
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| Province of Agrigento |  | |
| Province of Catania | ||
| Province of Messina | ||
| Province of Palermo | ||
| Province of Siracusa | ||
| Province of Trapani | ||
| Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi | ||
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