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 area of the Sanctuary

Worship services

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

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

A Northern population

The balance between architecture and light

The senses tell Context 1

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Cathedral over the centuries

A remarkable ceiling

A new Cathedral

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

The mosaics of the apses

Under the crosses of the Bema

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The lost chapel

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Bible carved in stone

The towers and the western facade

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

The king’s mark

A palimpsest of history

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

Survey of the royal tombs

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cultural substrate through time

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The cemetery of kings

The longest aisle

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Roger II’s strategic design

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

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

A tree full of life

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The decorated facade

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The stone bible

Palermo: the happiest city

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The beginning of the construction site

The mosaics of the presbytery

The original design

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

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

The side aisles

The Gualtiero Cathedral

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

The southern portico

Interior decorations

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Mosaic decoration

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Ecclesia munita

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Virgin Hodegetria

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Transformations over the centuries

The Chapel of the Kings

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Great Restoration

A controversial interpretation

The rediscovered chapel

Squaring the circle

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

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