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.

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Mosaic decoration

The king’s mark

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The southern portico

The chapel of St. Benedict

The towers and the western facade

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

The cultural substrate through time

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Squaring the circle

The rediscovered chapel

The mosaics of the presbytery

The lost chapel

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The longest aisle

The cemetery of kings

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The senses tell Context 1

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A palimpsest of history

The Chapel of the Kings

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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 Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

A controversial interpretation

The balance between architecture and light

A new Cathedral

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Worship services

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

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

A tree full of life

Survey of the royal tombs

Ecclesia munita

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

The original design

The Bible carved in stone

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Palermo: the happiest city

A remarkable ceiling

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A Northern population

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The mosaics of the apses

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Transformations over the centuries

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Roger II’s strategic design

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

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

The stone bible

Under the crosses of the Bema

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Cathedral over the centuries

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

A space between the visible and the invisible

Interior decorations

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The side aisles

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

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

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

The decorated facade

The Great Restoration