Cefalù Cathedral
the facade and the portico

The decorated facade

The main façade, rising to the west, is enclosed between two imposing square towers with a pyramid-shaped apex. They are a reminder of its original function as Ecclesia Munita , a fortress church, with a series of multi-level walkways, now uncovered, built within the thickness of the walls, connecting the two towers to the transept, in defence of the Cathedral.The front elevation of the religious building, restored at the end of the 15th century, is home to the protruding body of the tetrastyle portico , built by magister Ambrosius da Como . It was divided into three large arches, with two lateral ones with pointed arches and a central full centre one , supported by four columns. The dynamism of the ribbed cross vaults which fill the roof of the portico echoes the decorations of the ancient gateway , preserved over the centuries.
In addition to the monumental marble portal that ennobles the façade, whose creation dates back to the initial cathedral project, there are two further orders. The first order is marked by an elaborate row of four blind pointed arches on each side, which intersect each other, interrupted only at the centre by a large window bearing an inscription dated 1240, referring to Giovanni Panittera , a testimony to his work on the elevation of the Cathedral.
The last level differs from the one below due to the presence of decorative elements of simpler workmanship.

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The towers and the western facade

Under the crosses of the Bema

Worship services

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

The area of the Sanctuary

Palermo: the happiest city

The cemetery of kings

The mosaics of the apses

The cultural substrate through time

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The side aisles

The chapel of St. Benedict

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

The original design

Roger II’s strategic design

The balance between architecture and light

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Squaring the circle

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The lost chapel

The Cathedral over the centuries

The Chapel of the Kings

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The decorated facade

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Ecclesia munita

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

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

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The Bible carved in stone

The stone bible

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

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

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

Mosaic decoration

A tree full of life

The senses tell Context 1

Interior decorations

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Great Restoration

A new Cathedral

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

The beginning of the construction site

A space between the visible and the invisible

The rediscovered chapel

The king’s mark

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The longest aisle

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Survey of the royal tombs

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Transformations over the centuries

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The southern portico

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

A controversial interpretation

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

A palimpsest of history

A Northern population

A remarkable ceiling