Monreale Cathedral

Monreale Cathedral
Monreale Cathedral
	Façade of the cathedral.
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic
Province	Archdiocese of Monreale
Rite	Roman
Location
Location	Monreale, Italy 38°04′54.69″N 13°17′31.44″E (Mappa)
Geographic coordinates	38°04′54.69″N 13°17′31.44″E / 38.0818583°N 13.2920667°E
Architecture
Style	Norman, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque
Groundbreaking	1172
Completed	1267
	Official name: Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù and Monreale
Type	Architectural
Criteria	ii, iv
Designated	2015 (39th session)
Reference no.	1487
State Party	Italy
Region	Europe and North America

Monreale Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Nuova di Monreale; Duomo di Monreale) is a Catholic church in Monreale, Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. One of the greatest existent examples of Norman architecture, it was begun in 1174 by William II of Sicily. In 1182 the church, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, was, by a bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to the rank of a metropolitan cathedral as the seat of the diocese of Monreale, which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Monreale in 1183. Since 2015 it has been part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily. Its size is 102 meters (335') long and 40 meters (131') wide.