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.

A Northern population

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The towers and the western facade

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The stone bible

The longest aisle

A controversial interpretation

Under the crosses of the Bema

The southern portico

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Worship services

A new Cathedral

The Cathedral over the centuries

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The Chapel of the Kings

Interior decorations

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The original design

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

A palimpsest of history

Palermo: the happiest city

The senses tell Context 1

Ecclesia munita

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A remarkable ceiling

Roger II’s strategic design

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The beginning of the construction site

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

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

The lost chapel

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

The rediscovered chapel

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The chapel of St. Benedict

The decorated facade

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The mosaics of the presbytery

A space between the visible and the invisible

Transformations over the centuries

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The king’s mark

The balance between architecture and light

The mosaics of the apses

Squaring the circle

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

The cultural substrate through time

The Great Restoration

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Virgin Hodegetria

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Bible carved in stone

Survey of the royal tombs

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

Mosaic decoration

The side aisles

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

A tree full of life

The cemetery of kings

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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