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

The decorated facade

The longest aisle

The cultural substrate through time

A tree full of life

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

The southern portico

The Bible carved in stone

Ecclesia munita

A palimpsest of history

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The original design

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Mosaic decoration

The senses tell Context 1

A new Cathedral

The Great Restoration

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Squaring the circle

The Cathedral over the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The balance between architecture and light

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

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

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

A controversial interpretation

The rediscovered chapel

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A remarkable ceiling

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The Virgin Hodegetria

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The Chapel of the Kings

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Transformations over the centuries

The stone bible

Palermo: the happiest city

Roger II’s strategic design

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

The mosaics of the apses

Interior decorations

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Survey of the royal tombs

The beginning of the construction site

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The towers and the western facade

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The lost chapel

Worship services

The king’s mark

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The cemetery of kings

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The side aisles

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

The chapel of St. Benedict

A Northern population

The mosaics of the presbytery