"La Martorana" Bar in Monreale in the Rain, March 2005

Monreale (contraction of monte-reale, so-called from a palace built here by Roger I of Sicily) is a small city in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, Italy, on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the beautiful and very fertile valley called "La Conca d'oro" (the Golden Shell), famed for its orange, olive and almond trees, the produce of which is exported in large quantities. The town has approximately 30,000 and is located 15 km (12 mi) south of Palermo.

The town, which for long was a mere village, owed its origin to the founding of a large Benedictine monastery, with its church, the seat of the metropolitan archbishop of Sicily.

Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monreale