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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Ecclesia munita

The king’s mark

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

A palimpsest of history

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Roger II’s strategic design

The Great Restoration

The cemetery of kings

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A new Cathedral

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

The beginning of the construction site

The balance between architecture and light

The decorated facade

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

A controversial interpretation

The towers and the western facade

A Northern population

The Virgin Hodegetria

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Squaring the circle

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The senses tell Context 1

The southern portico

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Survey of the royal tombs

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The mosaics of the presbytery

The side aisles

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The mosaics of the apses

Transformations over the centuries

The longest aisle

The area of the Sanctuary

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Mosaic decoration

The cultural substrate through time

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Interior decorations

Worship services

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The chapel of St. Benedict

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A space between the visible and the invisible

A tree full of life

The rediscovered chapel

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The stone bible

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

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

The Chapel of the Kings

The lost chapel

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The original design

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

A remarkable ceiling

The Bible carved in stone

Palermo: the happiest city

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon