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 mosaics of the presbytery

Ecclesia munita

The stone bible

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

The senses tell Context 1

The Virgin Hodegetria

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Survey of the royal tombs

The Chapel of the Kings

The towers and the western facade

Mosaic decoration

A controversial interpretation

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The balance between architecture and light

The rediscovered chapel

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Worship services

The Great Restoration

A tree full of life

Roger II’s strategic design

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The original design

Squaring the circle

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Interior decorations

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The cultural substrate through time

The beginning of the construction site

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

The Bible carved in stone

The mosaics of the apses

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

Palermo: the happiest city

The area of the Sanctuary

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

A Northern population

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

Transformations over the centuries

The decorated facade

A palimpsest of history

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

A new Cathedral

The king’s mark

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The side aisles

A remarkable ceiling

The southern portico

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The longest aisle

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Under the crosses of the Bema

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The lost chapel

The cemetery of kings

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work