Palermo Cathedral
The Context 2

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The cathedral remained unchanged in its structure for almost a hundred years after the arrival of the Normans. During the reign of William II , grandson of Roger II , the church was restored and designed as an ecclesia munita from 1170 onwards,at the behest of Archbishop Gualtiero , a Proto family member of the King. The Cathedral was reopened for worship on April 6, 1185, with a lavish ceremony.
It is probable that the decision to renovate the sacred building was made not only to provide the city with a temple worthy of the kingdom’s capital, but also because of the damage caused to the church by the seismic event of 4 February 1169, known as the “ earthquake of Sant'Agata “, which caused extensive ruin throughout most of Sicily. Palermo Cathedral was rebuilt at the same time as the construction of the Monreale Cathedral, commissioned by William II, as part of his plans to govern the territory by creating emblematic places of worship.
For both sacred buildings, records tell the story of the discovery of a treasure, the one found by the Virgin Mary, who came to William in a dream to facilitate the construction of the Monreale Cathedral, and the one found during the construction of the church of the Holy Spirit , for the renovation of the church in Palermo.

Worship services

Palermo: the happiest city

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

Ecclesia munita

The balance between architecture and light

A space between the visible and the invisible

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Great Restoration

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A Northern population

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The longest aisle

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II’s strategic design

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A palimpsest of history

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

The beginning of the construction site

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

A controversial interpretation

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

The lost chapel

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A remarkable ceiling

The cultural substrate through time

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Mosaic decoration

The king’s mark

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Chapel of the Kings

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

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The southern portico

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The Cathedral over the centuries

Squaring the circle

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

The mosaics of the apses

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

The original design

The chapel of St. Benedict

Survey of the royal tombs

The rediscovered chapel

Under the crosses of the Bema

The senses tell Context 1

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

The towers and the western facade

The cemetery of kings

A new Cathedral

The Bible carved in stone

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

Interior decorations

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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 chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Virgin Hodegetria

The area of the Sanctuary

The side aisles

The decorated facade

The stone bible

A tree full of life

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

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