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.

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

A palimpsest of history

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The senses tell Context 1

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The original design

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Bible carved in stone

Palermo: the happiest city

The cultural substrate through time

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

A Northern population

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Virgin Hodegetria

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Mosaic decoration

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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

The mosaics of the apses

The longest aisle

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Cathedral over the centuries

A remarkable ceiling

The rediscovered chapel

The stone bible

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

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

The lost chapel

The towers and the western facade

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

Worship services

The decorated facade

Ecclesia munita

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

The beginning of the construction site

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The balance between architecture and light

The Chapel of the Kings

A tree full of life

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A new Cathedral

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Interior decorations

The side aisles

The chapel of St. Benedict

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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 Great Restoration

A controversial interpretation

Survey of the royal tombs

Squaring the circle

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Roger II’s strategic design

The cemetery of kings

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

Transformations over the centuries

A space between the visible and the invisible

The king’s mark

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The southern portico

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

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