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.

A remarkable ceiling

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The longest aisle

A controversial interpretation

A new Cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

A Northern population

The towers and the western facade

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Bible carved in stone

The cemetery of kings

A space between the visible and the invisible

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The southern portico

The side aisles

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

Squaring the circle

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Palermo: the happiest city

The Chapel of the Kings

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

The lost chapel

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The senses tell Context 1

The decorated facade

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

The rediscovered chapel

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Under the crosses of the Bema

The beginning of the construction site

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

Worship services

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

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Mosaic decoration

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The balance between architecture and light

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The cultural substrate through time

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The original design

The Great Restoration

The king’s mark

Interior decorations

A tree full of life

Roger II’s strategic design

Ecclesia munita

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

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

Survey of the royal tombs

The mosaics of the presbytery

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The chapel of St. Benedict

The stone bible

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The mosaics of the apses

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

Transformations over the centuries

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A palimpsest of history

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God