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 balance between architecture and light

Transformations over the centuries

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

The Great Restoration

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The original design

The southern portico

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The lost chapel

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Ecclesia munita

The cemetery of kings

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A new Cathedral

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The beginning of the construction site

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

The Bible carved in stone

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

The area of the Sanctuary

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

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

Survey of the royal tombs

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A palimpsest of history

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

The mosaics of the apses

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The towers and the western facade

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Mosaic decoration

Roger II’s strategic design

The longest aisle

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Cathedral over the centuries

A controversial interpretation

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chapel of St. Benedict

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Under the crosses of the Bema

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The cultural substrate through time

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The king’s mark

The senses tell Context 1

The decorated facade

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

Squaring the circle

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Chapel of the Kings

The mosaics of the presbytery

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

The side aisles

Interior decorations

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

Worship services

A tree full of life

Palermo: the happiest city

A remarkable ceiling

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

A Northern population

The stone bible

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