Monreale Cathedral
the Great Presbytery

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

With its volumes, the chapel dominates the area above the passageway and extends, with a central plan, covered by a hexagonal dome resting on a square and adorned with pairs of pilasters , alternating with the small windows inserted in the lantern .
The area’s layout consists a rectangular room containing an altar , flanked on the right by the sacristy and on the left by a transit area leading to a small bell tower.
The extraordinary decoration inside is introduced at the entrance by the imposing double-leaf yellow copper gate, designed by Angelo Italia and produced by Gaetano Signorello , as if to accompany the faithful on a journey of wonder.
The graceful dynamism of the ornaments and architecture that enliven the Chapel of the Crucifix is permeated by multicoloured inlays and sculptures representing the theme of Passion.
A courtly mysticism composed of rich forms, inscriptions and sculptures is also underlined by the emergence of biblical and theological meanings, visible immediately after crossing the red marble steps into the chapel. We seem to be witnessing the daring vision of a single project in which the decoration of every surface, even the smallest, is not spared by the heterogeneous inspiration of the artists, permeated by the rigorous approach of its client.
In contrast to the whiteness of the bare plaster of the dome, now stripped of the frescoes that once adorned it, as if interrupting a symphony of artistic combinations, four life-size statues of Old Testament prophets stand out in this sacred space, in the act of pointing to Christ and, implicitly, to his passion and death..
The Crucifix becomes the vanishing point of the entire environment and the centrepiece of various figurative cycles.

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Under the crosses of the Bema

The beginning of the construction site

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Worship services

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Cathedral over the centuries

Roger II’s strategic design

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Bible carved in stone

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

The Virgin Hodegetria

The towers and the western facade

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The side aisles

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

The stone bible

The southern portico

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The longest aisle

Palermo: the happiest city

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The cemetery of kings

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

A controversial interpretation

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

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A tree full of life

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The lost chapel

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

The original design

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

The balance between architecture and light

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Transformations over the centuries

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

Interior decorations

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The king’s mark

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

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A remarkable ceiling

The senses tell Context 1

Mosaic decoration

A new Cathedral

The mosaics of the apses

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The cultural substrate through time

The Great Restoration

The decorated facade

A Northern population

Squaring the circle

Survey of the royal tombs

A space between the visible and the invisible

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Ecclesia munita

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

The rediscovered chapel

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The area of the Sanctuary

A palimpsest of history

The Chapel of the Kings