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.

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A new Cathedral

The side aisles

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The southern portico

Mosaic decoration

The cemetery of kings

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

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A Northern population

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

The beginning of the construction site

A space between the visible and the invisible

The king’s mark

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Palermo: the happiest city

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The balance between architecture and light

Ecclesia munita

The Chapel of the Kings

The rediscovered chapel

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Survey of the royal tombs

The Bible carved in stone

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The lost chapel

The mosaics of the presbytery

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A controversial interpretation

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Great Restoration

The chapel of St. Benedict

A remarkable ceiling

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Virgin Hodegetria

The mosaics of the apses

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A tree full of life

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The stone bible

A palimpsest of history

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The area of the Sanctuary

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The cultural substrate through time

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

Roger II’s strategic design

Interior decorations

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Worship services

Under the crosses of the Bema

The longest aisle

Squaring the circle

The decorated facade

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

The senses tell Context 1

The original design

The towers and the western facade

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

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

Transformations over the centuries

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

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations