It isn’t Westminster Abbey or Notre-Dame, or some other famous cathedral. It isn’t Gothic or baroque, and has no gargoyles or winged cherubs. It isn’t even in a major city. But Monreale in north-western Sicily has a cathedral for the jaded, unlike anything you’ve ever seen. I must have seen 200 cathedrals, but this is the most surprising one ever.

In 1174, Norman king of Sicily William II was purportedly having some shuteye during a hunting excursion in the hills near his capital Palermo, when the Virgin Mary chose to inform him of treasure buried nearby by his father, William I.

He dug it up and dedicated it to building the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Nuova to give thanks and demonstrate the wealth and artistic vitality of open-minded Norman Sicily. The island had previously been conquered by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs, and all their influences ended up in the architecture.

The columns of the aisle were purloined from Roman temples and adorned with the heads of Greek goddesses. The ceiling’s star motifs and geometric-patterned floor in jasper and porphyry are Islamic.

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

It will be a while, however, before you notice these unusual details because the cathedral is covered in Byzantine-style mosaic work – a reported 100 million pieces – that explodes in shimmering gold. Clearly William II had a rapper’s liking for bling to go with his religious devotion.

I’m on an escorted journey with tour company Collette around a Sicily crammed with wonderful sights, but this might be the most wonderful. Stepping into the cathedral is like finding myself in a giant illuminated 3D Bible.

Monreale Cathedral is a pop-up book of biblical stories, depicted with what is surely a sense of humour. I’m glad I’ve followed local Collette guide Roberta’s advice to bring binoculars for the details. Mosaic camels have huge grins, an agile Noah with beard flying leaps from the ark, and a pickaxe-wielding worker floats over the Tower of Babel. Mourners unwrapping Lazarus, who has just clambered from his tomb, hold their noses against the putrid smell.

This is the Bible as comic strip. Around the nave, Eve is tempted, Abel murdered and Abraham sacrificed. In the aisles, Jesus is busy with miracles among lepers covered in black pustules, the blind tripping over and a man in a straitjacket.

There are none of the later stories you get in most cathedrals: no arrow-pierced saints and grim, contorted martyrs. Only the key saints are represented, sloe-eyed and serene like those in Eastern Orthodox churches.

A vast Christ dominates, his tunic glinting gold, every blue fold in his robe detailed. He faces the length of the cathedral, one arm upraised in blessing, fingers long and tapered. An expression of compassion transforms his gaunt, ascetic face.

The cathedral is a great medieval masterpiece that, unlike many, was never remodelled by baroque busybodies. The mosaics, however, have just emerged from a comprehensive restoration. Shorn of their dust, with enamel and gold leaf repaired and gleaming under new spot lighting, they glow like a vision of heaven.

The cathedral has another treat that only one in 10 visitors bothers with, but which you shouldn’t miss: the adjacent Benedictine cloisters.

The glorious quadrangle’s elegant arcades are supported by pointed arches and 228 columns, each carved with stone figures of people and animals. It reminds me of the Alhambra in Spain; the Islamic influence is unmistakable.

I won’t be in another cathedral or church on this Collette tour. Sensible decision, because there’s much more to see in Sicily. And once you’ve been shown the best, a smart tour moves on.

THE DETAILS

FLY

Turkish Airlines flies from Melbourne and Sydney to Palermo via Istanbul. See turkishairlines.com

TOUR

Collette has several escorted journeys to Sicily, some also taking in southern-mainland Italy or Malta. Its 13-day small-group Sicily & Its Isles itinerary is priced from $7949 a person twin share with multiple departures until October 2026. It includes Monreale Cathedral and other highlights such as Palermo, Agrigento’s Greek temples, Taormina, Mount Etna and the island of Salina. See gocollette.com

MORE

visitsicily.info

The writer travelled as a guest of Collette.