Duration: 4 Hours
Enjoy a private guided tour with a local expert guide in Palermo and a driver. You’ll go through the different areas of Palermo to view its various architectural styles, that consist of Art Nouveau, Baroque, Arabic & French Norman. Along with seeing its more important sites: Quattro Canti, Piazza Pretoria, & the Massimo Theatre. Palermo is going though a rebirth, and is becoming revitalized with new art galleries & restaurants.
It’s a charming city where the air smells of sweet pastries, backstreets open onto pretty squares and mosaic churches found throughout.
Visit inside the imposing Palermo Cathedral, which at one time was a mosque & view its Arabic, Gothic and Baroque influences. Then with both your driver & guide you’ll head out of Palermo and drive to Monreale to see its famous 12th century splendid Duomo, considered to be the finest example of Norman architecture in Sicily. Its dazzling interior is almost completely covered in gilded mosaics, the work of Byzantine artisans. You’ll be able to survey Palermo from up here.
The Duomo and cloisters of Monreale are frequently cited as the island’s greatest Norman buildings. They date to the twelfth century, when the Norman ruler William II, known as William the Good, founded a Benedictine monastery here; this Duomo was its abbey. In competition with the great cathedral being built down in Palermo, Monreale’s Duomo was finished rapidly and extravagantly; William wanted this to be an important royal church where he and his successors would be buried, though these plans didn’t last beyond his own burial.
Inclusions:
- Private local expert English speaking guide & all transportation
