The original design of the Cefalù Cathedral was planned as a sort of Ecclesia Munita, that is, a fortress cathedral. In Sicily, other examples can be seen in Palermo, Monreale and in the original layout of the Catania Cathedral, commissioned by Roger I. These buildings were characterised by their g...

The original design of the Cefalù Cathedral was planned as a sort of Ecclesia Munita, that is, a fortress cathedral. In Sicily, other examples can be seen in Palermo, Monreale and in the original layout of the Catania Cathedral, commissioned by Roger I. These buildings were characterised by their g...

After walking up the steps, access to Cefalù Cathedral was gained through the regal gate or Porta Regum. The importance of the Cathedral’s entrance is highlighted by the marble portal, richly ornamented with recessed rings decorated with figurative motifs, the iconographic design of which is not ...

The "turniale", used over the centuries also as a burial place, is currently a large, quadrangular space, functioning as a churchyard. It was built in 1585 by Bishop Preconio. Originally, access to the Cathedral was gained via a staircase or an incline, which gave Roger II’s great project an impos...

The seminary, from the Latin seminarum , meaning seedbed, is an ecclesiastical institution for the spiritual, theological and cultural training of aspiring priests. The Episcopal seminary of Cefalù was commissioned by Bishop Francesco Gonzaga in 1590....

The first nucleus of the bishop's Cefalù palace, now adjacent to the seminary, dates back to the Middle Ages, to the time of Roger’s reign. However, it was Bishop Francesco Gonzaga, in 1590, who wanted to give it its current formal architectural structure. In 1793, Bishop Francesco Vanni complete...

The cloister, from the Latin claustrum, meaning enclosed place, is the essential inner courtyard of a monastery and a space of disengagement between the various environments of communal life. It appeared in the 5th century AD. In the Middle Ages, it was built alongside the Cathedrals, if they were c...

The town of Cefalù, as well as the Cathedral, are nestled under an imposing brown calcareous-rock mass; the "dolomia calcarea", known as the "Rocca". In ancient times, this was the place where the "lumachella" stone was quarried and used to make the paving stones for the Cathedral. The Rocca is pro...

The projections, from the Latin adiectus , i.e. added, are vertically protruding elements, compared to the perimeter of the building. On an aesthetic level, they are used in medieval churches to give greater emphasis and movement to the structure....

The term matroneum derives from the word "matron" and, in medieval churches, was an architectural element consisting of a gallery. More precisely, it was a tribune, located above the side aisles and open to the central one, in which women attended religious worship. Later, the women's gallery, the m...