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.

Mosaic decoration

The king’s mark

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Worship services

The senses tell Context 1

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The side aisles

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The southern portico

A Northern population

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The cultural substrate through time

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The beginning of the construction site

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

Ecclesia munita

The original design

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A palimpsest of history

Interior decorations

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A controversial interpretation

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

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

The decorated facade

Squaring the circle

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The lost chapel

The stone bible

A new Cathedral

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Palermo: the happiest city

The towers and the western facade

Transformations over the centuries

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

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

A tree full of life

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

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

The Great Restoration

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

The Bible carved in stone

The longest aisle

The mosaics of the apses

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Survey of the royal tombs

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Roger II’s strategic design

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A remarkable ceiling

The balance between architecture and light

The rediscovered chapel

A space between the visible and the invisible

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Chapel of the Kings

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The cemetery of kings