Day 1: Palermo & Monreale (max 8 hours with Driver Guide)
Welcome to the beautiful island and in the amazing capital of Sicily: Palermo. Today our driver guide will show us where the Arab-Norman art and architecture reached the pinnacle of its glory with the Monreale Duomo, launched in 1174 by William II.  Scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted in golden mosaics covering the interior.  Then on to Palermo to explore the fascinating Capuchin Catacombs. The Catacombs outgrew their original cemetery in the 16th century and monks began to excavate the crypts below it. The bodies were dehydrated on the racks of ceramic pipes in the catacombs and sometimes later washed with vinegar. Monks were preserved with their everyday clothing and sometimes with ropes they had worn as a penance. The catacombs contain about 8000 mummies that line the walls. The halls are divided into categories: Men, Women, Virgins, Children, Priests, Monks, and Professionals. Later to the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, which was the crowning architectural achievement of William II’s grandfather, Roger II.  We continue by seeing: Piazza Pretoria and Via Maqueda with its “four corners” converging Palermo at a quartet of Baroque palaces left over from the heyday of Spanish rule dating back to 1560. Then we visit the Cathedral constructed in various architectural styles throughout the Roman, Norman, Arabic, and Islamic dominations.

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