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PALERMO PORT
Full Day Tour
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A Melting Pot of Cultures and Traditions.
See the 24k golden mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale, the majestic Norman Cathedral of Palermo, the palazzo of Sicilian aristocracy and enjoy a delicious Sicilian lunch.
Pick up at 9:00 AM at the Palermo pier where your ship will dock. Your guide will have a sign with your name on it and a smile to welcome you.
Visit:
Palermo’s Norman Cathedral
Cathedral and Cloister of Monreale
Souk market
Lunch at a local restaurant
La Martorana
Piazza Pretoria Fountain
Palazzo Mirto
On this tour you will visit some of the most famous historical sites of Palermo, a multi-ethnic melting pot of different cultures, languages and tradition, and near-by Monreale, a rich and elegantly decorated hill town of contrasting origins. The visit begins with Palermo’s Norman Cathedral, a mix of Arab-Norman architecture with Spanish and Neo-classical additions. The local tufa stone gives this monument a peculiar golden glow in the sun which is common in many of the city’s monuments. The Cathedral today is the resting place of Norman and Swabian kings and emperors, as well as the city’s archbishops and patron saints.
We will walk through one of the city’s medieval Arab-style street markets where all the different colors and smells of fruit, vegetables, fish and spices mingle together and fill your senses completely with the sound of the dialect spoken by the local Palermitans.
Then we drive up to the near-by hill-town of Monreale, founded by the last Norman King of Sicily William II who was married to Joanna of England, the sister of the famous Richard the Lionhearted. Here we will visit the monument which was the crowning touch to the splendid Norman epoch: the Cathedral of Monreale. Built in only fifteen years, the interior of this church was decorated with over 68,000 square feet of mosaics done in 24-karat gold leaf, glass and colored glass paste.
Normans worked together with Byzantines and Arab Muslims and Jews in order to create this amazing piece of medieval architecture, and you can still recognize the different styles which were all put together in perfect harmony.Adjoining is the Benedictine Abbey with a Cloister very similar to the Alhambra in Granada, Spain made evident by the fountain which the builders of this Cloister had originally destined to be at the center of the garden.
Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant and savour the typical Sicilian delicacies.
We continue our fascinating visit with the small Byzantine-style church of La Martorana from the 12th century famous for the nuns who next door used to make marzipan called “Martorana” still today in Palermo; visit of Piazza Pretoria Fountain carved out of splendid white Carrara marble during the 16th century for a villa in Tuscany, today it is called “the Fountain of Shame” because of its nude statues; finally a tour of Palazzo Mirto will give you a first-hand look as to how a Sicilian noble family really lived. This palazzo still has all the original furniture and the family’s private collections from the 16th and the 19th centuries. By
the end of the day you will feel as though you have been in Paris and Istanbul and maybe even in Normandy.Be back on board your ship by 4:00 PM
Included: Insurance Coverage of NCC (Registered Certified vehicles with driver) for all passengers.
Certified Transportation, taxes, passes, Certified Tour Guide services, reservations for monuments and museum, entrance fees, lunch and happiness!
Not Included: Incidentals and gratuities
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COSTS (Actual Tour cost per vehicle):
SEDAN (holds 1-3 people) – EURO 715,00 + 10% TAX
VAN (holds up to 7 people) – EURO 1.045,00 + 10% TAX
