The Ligurian Ventimiglia family, counts and marquises of Geraci and princes of Castelbuono, settled in Cefalù in the second half of the thirteenth century and quickly exercised considerable control and power throughout the town. The powerful family owned many assets in the town, including gardens, ...

In the second half of the 13th century, Cefalù went through a moment of crisis because of the clash between the local church and Emperor Frederick II of Swabia and also because of the excessive power exercised by the local aristocracy. These changes wore down the status of civitas episcopal. In the...

The Order of Friars Minor was founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209. Francis, having left behind his comforts and riches, began to preach the Gospel and felt the need to restore the Church with the ancient values of poverty, spirituality, obedience, benevolence and charity. The Rule was approved ...

The Benedictine order was founded around 529, in the monastery of Montecassino, by St Benedict of Norcia. The Rule, which proposed a communal life according to the principle of Ora et Labora, or pray and work, was drafted by St Benedict in 534 and also supported by Pope Gregory the Great. In the Mid...

Son of Henry VI of Hohenstaufen and Constance of Hauteville, Frederick II was born in Jesi on 26 November 1194. He was King of Sicily (1198), King of Jerusalem (1225) and Emperor (1220). Orphaned at the age of four, he was entrusted to the guardianship of Pope Innocent III before being crowned Emper...

The Arab geographer Al-Idrīsī (Latinized Edrisi) was called to Palermo in 1145 by Roger II to write the famous Book of Roger and to work on the development of a 70-sheet world map called the Tabula Rogeriana. The original Tabula was made of silver. The manuscript, known as Kitāb Rugiār in Arabic...

Roger I, son of Tancred of Hauteville, was Count of Calabria and Sicily. He was born in Hauteville-la-Guichard, Normandy in 1031. Roger, known as the Great Count, was responsible for the conquest of Sicily, together with his brother Robert Guiscard. After the 1061 landing in Messina and the surrende...

Fra’ Benedetto Passafiume is one of the most authoritative historical sources with regards to the Cefalù area. He belonged to the Order of Franciscan Minors of Regular Observance, taught Sacred Theology and was appointed guardian of the convent of San Nicola in Cefalù. In addition to these impor...

The Hippodamian scheme, used between the 5th and 4th centuries BC for the newly founded Greek colonies, was devised, according to philosopher Aristotle, by the architect and urban planner Hippodamus of Miletus. Based on grid and chessboard-style layouts, already used before in the East, the Hippodam...

Living between 80 and 20 BC, Diodorus Siculus was the first to reference Kephaloidion as already being in existence, in 396 BC. The scholar, born in Agirio, (modern-day Agira) in Sicily, wrote the Bibliotheca historica, a universal history from the mythical origins of the world to Julius Caesar's ex...