The Cathedral of Monreale, or Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria la Nuova, was built in 1174 by Guglielmo d’Altavilla on the steep slopes of Monte Caputo to dominate the entire Conca d’Oro and is today the bishopric of the archdiocese of Monreale. The mosaics, which embellish the Cathedral of Monreale, constitute the largest decoration of this kind in Italy (even higher than that of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice) with 0.75 hectares of stone tiles and at least 100 million in glass to form a total area of ​​6240 square meters, second in the world by extension only to the church of Santa Sofia in Constantinople. Someone called it the most beautiful temple in the world and undoubtedly the Cathedral of Monreale is one of the finest examples of how art manages to get in tune with the heart of man. Tourists come from all over the world to admire it and many times we, who have it on our doorstep, pass it casually and maybe enter it looking here and there fascinated by the whole but unable to grasp its details. Later we will visit Palermo which is the capital of Sicily and has always been a crucial point of the Mediterranean, thanks to its position, in fact, since ancient times Palermo has been a meeting place and cultural and economic exchange, founded by the Phoenicians in 734 BC. they colonized the whole north coast of Sicily. Over the centuries Palermo was conquered by different civilizations such as the Arabs, the Greeks, the Spaniards and many others, consequently the historical testimonies of these periods are visible for the city, both in the architecture of the buildings but also in the culture and in tradition, mixing sacred and profane customs.