Cultural guided tour Palermo and Monreale

Cultural guided tour Palermo and Monreale

UNESCO Palermo  traveller’s mecca for all season and all demand: a city of Outstanding Universal values

7 hours tour of Palermo includes the following monuments : the Cathedral, the Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel

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The tour of Palermo  includes a  street market (a cacophony of sights, sounds and scents, were you can experience the street food ) and the city of  Monreale.  In Monreale visit of its magnificent cathedral whose interior is completely covered with gold mosaics (6,400 square meters) in which are represented scenes from the Bible and the  of the famous cloister of the Benedictines Abbey

MEETING LOCATION: the pier of your cruse  liner ( I'll hold a sign with your name ) or your hotel in Palermo

The tour can be customized according to your needs

END LOCATION : same as meeting place

DURATION: 4 or 7 hours

TRANSPORTATION: the excursion is walking tour or by taxi to reach Monreale ( approximately 60 euros return cost )

WHAT IS INCLUDED: my service as a tour guide, entrance  fees are not included  Meals is not included

ESTIMATED LOCAL CASH NEEDED:  entrance fees Royal Palace € 8.50 p.p. Cloister Monreale € 6.00 all restaurants accepts credit card. Street food in a local market about 5 up to 10 euros drinks included

ITINERARY: guided walking tour in Palermo hidden sights in the old part of town. Visit the highlights of the Arab Norman Period, the Quattro Canti, Piazza Pretoria, the Cathedral and the Royal Palace  now the seat of the Sicilian Parliament . The Royal chapel designed by Roger II in 1130 representing the fusion of Byzantine , Arab, Norman and Sicilian civilization, this tour includes  a typical market.

  The 7 hours tour includes  Monreale Cathedral and the Benedectine cloister

Monreale a hill town just outside Palermo with the splendid position high above the Conca D'Oro. There you can find charming cafè and souvenirs shops.  The Cathedral is certainly  the apogee of Arab Norman art inspired by a vision. . The mosaics depict the whole stories of the Bible. The colour are not as bright as those of the contemporary mosaics in the Palatine Chapel, but the figures seem more expressive. They were completed between the late-1100s and early-1200s century by craftsmen from Venice and Sicily. The composition and their features and the symbols  are often the same as those used in the Palatine Chapel. Their arrangement follow a precise program, the  art used as an instrument of religion and serve to educate the faithful in the teachings of the Christian Church.