Monreale

Common card · No. 325049

Monreale ( MON-ree-AL, Italian: [monreˈaːle]; Sicilian: Murriali; lit. 'Royal Mountain') is a town and comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, Southern Italy. It is located 310 meters (1017.06 ft) above sea level on the slope of Mount Caputo, a small promontory overlooking the valley of Palermo, from which it is approximately 7 km (4 miles) to the south. The town developed on a site used by the Norman kings for hunting. Roger I of Sicily built a royal palace there, hence the name Mons Regalis. The city gained great importance when king William II of Sicily built Monreale Cathedral with the adjoining Benedictine monastery. In 1183, it became the seat of the archbishop. Monreale forms its own archdiocese. Its cathedral is one of several buildings named in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a group of nine inscribed as Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale.

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