Cefalù Cathedral
context 3

The senses tell the context 3

sight
A majestic rock mass

The Cefalù Cathedral stands out on a terrace perched on the imposing rock mass stretching out towards the sea and embraced by the jagged peaks of the Sicilian Apennines between the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains. If we look at the rest of the landscape, a sequence of silhouettes comes to life, built at different times and hierarchically dependent on the cathedral. These include the cloister, the bishop’s palace, the seminary with its adjoining courtyard and the Turniale, which dates from a later period, and are distributed along the northern side of the church. The latter appears as a large embankment functioning as a churchyard, also used as a burial place.

The Virgin Hodegetria

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A controversial interpretation

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The cemetery of kings

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A new Cathedral

The mosaics of the apses

The balance between architecture and light

The king’s mark

The original design

A space between the visible and the invisible

Squaring the circle

The Cefalù cathedral: a construction yard undergoing a change between a surge of faith and control over the territory

A Northern population

Mosaic decoration

The paradisiacal “Conca d’oro” that embraces Palermo: a name with countless faces through time

The Bible carved in stone

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Roger II’s strategic design

A remarkable ceiling

The area of the Sanctuary

Palermo: the happiest city

Ecclesia munita

Tempus fugit: a strategic project implemented in a short period of time

The Cathedral over the centuries

A palimpsest of history

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The architectural modifications ti the cathedral building after the death of Roger II and the transformations of the cloister

The mosaics of the presbytery

A tree full of life

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The senses tell Context 1

The side aisles

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The marble portal: an intimate dialogue between complex ornamental aspects and formal structure

Biblical themes enlivened by the dazzling light of the stained – glass windows overlooking the naves

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Worship services

The stone bible

From the main gate to the aisles: an invitation to a journey of faith

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The cultural substrate through time

The beginning of the construction site

The Great Restoration

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Thirteenth-century iconography decorates the nave’s wooden ceiling, designed with new solutions

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The towers and the western facade

The links between the hauteville family and the monastic orders in Sicily

Transformations over the centuries

Survey of the royal tombs

The southern portico

The lost chapel

The Chapel of the Kings

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The decorated facade

A compositional design that combines nordic examples with new artistic languages, over the centuries

The chapel of St. Benedict

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

Interior decorations

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The side Portico: a combination of elegance and lightness of form

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The longest aisle

The chapel of the crucifix: an artistic casket based on a previous model

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Under the crosses of the Bema

The plasticism of the main portico and Bonanno Pisano’s Monumental Bronze Door

The columns of the nave: the meticulous study of the overall order