Cefalù Cathedral
the chystro

Squaring the circle

Entering the cloister of Cefalù Cathedral not only means plunging into a path steeped in medieval art that seems to reawaken the different decorative motifs animating the capitals of the columns as we pass, but also being pervaded by an architecture of light.
In accordance with Christian symbolism, it is oriented so that each of its spaces is illuminated in a different way, following the orientation of the sun.
Following its itinerary, made up of the transcendence of the circle inserted in the immanence of the square, we are invited to embark on a spiritual journey of purification that begins where the light sets, symbolically linked to Adam and the Old Testament, and then reaches the New Testament dimension, pervaded by the radiance of the incarnation and the promise. Even the plants arranged in the garden have always represented an ascetic message, capable of enveloping those who walk through it in a sense of theophany that unfolds along the way.

A remarkable ceiling

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

Worship services

The mosaics of the presbytery

The side aisles

The king’s mark

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The longest aisle

The mosaics of the apses

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A tree full of life

The Virgin Hodegetria

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The southern portico

Roger II’s strategic design

The cemetery of kings

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A palimpsest of history

The lost chapel

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The rediscovered chapel

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Great Restoration

The original design

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

A Northern population

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Survey of the royal tombs

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Chapel of the Kings

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Cathedral over the centuries

The balance between architecture and light

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A controversial interpretation

Palermo: the happiest city

The decorated facade

The towers and the western facade

The beginning of the construction site

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The stone bible

The senses tell Context 1

The chapel of St. Benedict

Under the crosses of the Bema

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A new Cathedral

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

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A space between the visible and the invisible

Squaring the circle

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

Ecclesia munita

Mosaic decoration

The cultural substrate through time

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

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Interior decorations

The Bible carved in stone

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon