News of the construction of the Cefalù Cathedral must have reached all the lands of the Norman kingdom rather quickly.
As was the case for the construction of all great cathedrals, stone masters, builders, master masons and axe masters came from all over and, together with their families, flooded the small fishing village of Cefalù. The building, like any respectable medieval work, started from the east, with the first work being the construction of the most sacred area of the church. Initiating the construction of the Cefalù Cathedral was certainly not an easy task; one of the few large churches and perhaps the only cathedral to be built with staggered levels in its
foundations
. The area on which the grandiose temple was to be built was identified as a steep cliff that sloped down towards the sea from the slopes of the great Rocca above the town.
The first activity that the master builders carried out was the construction of the laying surface and the underlying foundations, built in steps with
substructure walls
.
Once the floor level had been obtained, the building’s wall perimeter plan was able to be drawn up and construction could begin.
The construction site opened with an organic and unified plan, which involved the creation of the main apse, the two
service apses
, the
Diaconicon
on the right and of the
Prothesis
on the left, together with the large transverse body of the transept.
The construction technique used for the foundations is evident in the plinths of the apses.
These are built in steps on different levels. The architectural composition of the high walls was strongly influenced by the Nordic style; in fact,
Burgundian
and more classic Romanesque stylistic features are visible.
