The cross vault, a characteristic element of medieval architecture, is the longitudinal intersection of two barrel vaults. Therefore, four triangular spaces are formed, the sails, delimited by arches. The ribs, in fact, are placed in diagonal arcs. The rib, also known as an ogive, is an architectura...

The full-centre arch, also known as a round arch, is undoubtedly the most commonly used model, made famous by the Romans in amphitheatres and triumphal arches. The Italian term tutto sesto, used to describe these arches, comes from the Latin sextus , meaning compass, and it is characterised by its s...

In the Renaissance period, and more specifically in 1471, the tetrastyle portico was added to the Cathedral’s façade, , made by Magister Ambrosius da Como at the behest of Prior Giovanni Passafiume and then completed by da Como’s son, Antonio, in 1484. He is mentioned as a sculptor among the...

A temple or portico with four columns on the façade is referred to as being tetrastyle. The term tetrastyle comes from the Greek τετράστυλος meaning "with four columns". In antiquity, it was used by both the Greeks and the Romans for small buildings....

Following the death of Bishop Giovanni Cicala in 1216,  Arduino II was elected to the chair in the following year, remaining in office until 1238. The bishop clashed several times with Emperor Frederick II, who managed to remove him from the Diocese after accusations and trials....

Peter, born into the noble Montboissier family, became the ninth abbot of Cluny in 1122. Throughout his life, he worked on reforming the monastic system so much so that, in 1146, he wrote the 76 rules that regulated the Cluniac order. In addition to speaking out against heresies through numerous wri...

Suger was Abbot of the Saint Denis Abbey from 1122 to 1151. He oversaw the reconstruction of the façade of the great building, tripling the entrances and raising the towers as well. Later, he also worked on the choir, designed with a double ambulatory. In addition to writing (De rebus inministratio...

The influence of the Benedictine-Cluniac planimetric schemes, which can be traced back to the second Cluny Abbey, soon arrived in Sicily, with models visible both in the Cathedrals in Catania and Cefalù. In the second reconstruction of the Cluny Abbey, consecrated in 981, a choir with aisles and an...

Matches have been noted between the Cefalù Cathedral and the early Norman buildings in Mazara and Mileto. The Church of the Holy Saviour in Mazara, ordered by Roger I, was built between 1086 and 1093. It remained intact until 1694 when it was partly demolished and rebuilt. The original layout was...

Bishop Giovanni Cicala, descendant of a branch of Castelcicala di Nola lords and brother of the Count of Collesano Paolo Cicala, was Bishop of Cefalù from 1196 to 1216. In the fifth painting on the Cathedral’s façade, described in the Rollus Rubeus, Emperor Frederick II is depicted as he looks t...