# View of the choir from the south-east [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, Italian]() - Date: 1151-1200 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The Norman arrived in Sicily from France in 1061, and won control over the island over the next thirty years. They engaged in building campaigns to establish their presence in each region in stone. The dominance of Palermo, or particularly of the bishop at its cathedral, was so strong by 1172 as to lead King William to establish a competing church, palace and monastery nearby at Monreale. He finished most of the church by 1182 and the vast, twenty-five bay square cloister by 1200. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Apse of a basilica]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Arsenale Gateway]() - [Basilica di Sant'Antonio: Chiostro del Noviziato]() - [Basilica Santi Nereo e Achilleo]() - [Ca' Foscari: Façade]() - [Chamber of the millers]() - [Chiesa dell'Incoronata: Interior of the dome]() - [Cloister gallery]() - [Detail of the façade]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()