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

Ecclesia munita

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The Chapel of the Kings

The side aisles

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

The rediscovered chapel

Under the crosses of the Bema

Interior decorations

The cemetery of kings

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A remarkable ceiling

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Roger II’s strategic design

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A controversial interpretation

The beginning of the construction site

Worship services

The Great Restoration

The Cathedral over the centuries

The cultural substrate through time

The lost chapel

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

The southern portico

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The chapel of St. Benedict

The king’s mark

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

A palimpsest of history

A new Cathedral

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Survey of the royal tombs

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The Bible carved in stone

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The towers and the western facade

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The mosaics of the apses

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

A tree full of life

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The stone bible

The decorated facade

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A space between the visible and the invisible

The area of the Sanctuary

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The original design

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Squaring the circle

Palermo: the happiest city

The senses tell Context 1

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A Northern population

Transformations over the centuries

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

The balance between architecture and light

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

The longest aisle