However, we begin our day with other Cruise Critic folks to the small town (population of 30,000) of Monreale. I had never heard of it. I could be packed and ready to go back in 10 minutes!

The big draw to the town is the Cathedral, begun in 1174. It was considered completed in 1185. William II was the person behind this, as an attempt to show up William I with his power.

The structure was build because Muslims had taken over Palermo and destroyed the cathedral there. Monreale, on Monte Caputo, is not far away and the Christians decided to make Monreale their new place of worship.

It is considered by many to be the best preserved example of Norman architecture of a church. From the outside, it is simple, your mouth will drop open when you get inside!

This is your first view of the apse. I don't know how to describe this scene, so I won't.

I believe that this thing on the floor indicates 1590 as the year.

OK, we have looked at the floor. Now look up!

I apologize for the light through the window, but this is the ceiling near the altar.

Glass mosaics are everywhere, Artisans came from Venice to do this stuff. I read somewhere about how many square meters of mosaics there are and the number was way to high for me to comprehend.

This is great stuff. the date at the bottom of the photo is: MDCCCXLIII.

Be aware, no flash photography allowed. I had to do some adjusting to make things show properly.

This is not your typical church window. Most windows have a religious theme. This one is an exception.

Here is a closer view of some of the mosaics within Monreale Cathedral in Sicily.

The choir room.

This is one of the side chapels.

Although it is a huge tourist draw, it was so quiet within the church.

We had just learned that one of our fellow Cruise Critic travelers had been hospitalized (he got home before us and is OK) and the missus lit a candle here.

Beautiful pictures. Do today's people still have the dedication and patience to create work like this?

There might be people who have the talent, but few people have the money to pay them accordingly.

Love the pics and the comments. It is so nice to see that other countries save their history.
I live in silicon valley, where "new" is best. As far as I know, we have one (1) historic adobe building.
The question about if people these days have the patience to do that kind of work. My answer is yes, but as Jim says, it takes money.
Since our neighborhood has moved into the high end, and there is a lot of money here, we see excellent workmanship in the new houses/buildings, especially tile and brick work.
From what I know, artisans from other countries are brought over to do the work.
But that is nothing new, after looking at the history of the American Palaces built in the 20-30thies, they also brought over artisans from the old country.