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 towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Mosaic decoration

A controversial interpretation

Survey of the royal tombs

Ecclesia munita

Squaring the circle

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The rediscovered chapel

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

A tree full of life

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

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

The towers and the western facade

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The area of the Sanctuary

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The beginning of the construction site

A new Cathedral

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Worship services

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

The balance between architecture and light

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The cemetery of kings

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Bible carved in stone

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

A space between the visible and the invisible

Roger II’s strategic design

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

A Northern population

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

The chapel of St. Benedict

The senses tell Context 1

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Great Restoration

The longest aisle

The side aisles

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

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The king’s mark

The stone bible

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Virgin Hodegetria

Palermo: the happiest city

The original design

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The lost chapel

A remarkable ceiling

The Chapel of the Kings

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

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The cultural substrate through time

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The decorated facade

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

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

A palimpsest of history

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The southern portico

Interior decorations

The mosaics of the apses