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.

Roger II’s strategic design

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The balance between architecture and light

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

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

The Virgin Hodegetria

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A palimpsest of history

A remarkable ceiling

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

A new Cathedral

The southern portico

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Squaring the circle

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The lost chapel

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

The beginning of the construction site

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A Northern population

The Cathedral over the centuries

The rediscovered chapel

The chapel of St. Benedict

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The decorated facade

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

The Bible carved in stone

The towers and the western facade

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Survey of the royal tombs

The cultural substrate through time

The cemetery of kings

Ecclesia munita

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The mosaics of the apses

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The senses tell Context 1

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Transformations over the centuries

The side aisles

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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

The area of the Sanctuary

Under the crosses of the Bema

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

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

The Chapel of the Kings

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Mosaic decoration

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

A tree full of life

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The original design

The king’s mark

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Palermo: the happiest city

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Interior decorations

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Great Restoration

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The mosaics of the presbytery

The stone bible

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

A controversial interpretation

The longest aisle

Worship services

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time