Apses and transept
Cefalù Cathedral

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The medieval church had the apse area as its only liturgical space. In smaller religious buildings, the apse had two small lateral service rooms for the safekeeping of sacred books and preparing the liturgy. In larger churches and cathedrals, these areas were enlarged, as in the case of the Cefalù Cathedral, through the construction of two apses mirroring the central one. Thus, in liturgical practice, the apse of the Prothesis and that of the Diaconicon took shape.
The first contained the liturgical objects intended for the offertory and the Eucharist, while the second was furnished with cabinets containing the vestments of the officiants and the sacred books. In the following centuries, the two minor apses lost their original function, becoming side chapels with altars and votive decorations.
The Prothesis apse retained its original function to a certain extent, being transformed into the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament , the place where the Eucharist and the sacred objects intended for the rite were kept. This change, with the overlapping Baroque decorations, also affected Cefalù Cathedral, which still has traces of it in the Cefalù chapel.
The Diaconicon apse, on the other hand, underwent profound changes in the early 20th century.
The finishes added in the 18th century were destroyed, with the unfulfilled hope of uncovering original mosaic ornamentation that was never actually made.
The masonry, devoid of any decoration, and the careless removal of part of the plaster, revealed the presence of a room built at the same time as the building, which must have connected the Diaconicon apse with the presbyteral space , used as a royal matroneum .

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

The cultural substrate through time

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The decorated facade

The senses tell Context 1

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cemetery of kings

The southern portico

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

Roger II’s strategic design

A tree full of life

The king’s mark

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A remarkable ceiling

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

The beginning of the construction site

The chapel of St. Benedict

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Survey of the royal tombs

The towers and the western facade

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Great Restoration

The mosaics of the apses

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

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

A space between the visible and the invisible

Transformations over the centuries

Interior decorations

The area of the Sanctuary

The Virgin Hodegetria

Mosaic decoration

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

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

Worship services

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

Ecclesia munita

The stone bible

Palermo: the happiest city

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The balance between architecture and light

A Northern population

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

The lost chapel

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The longest aisle

Squaring the circle

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Chapel of the Kings

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

A new Cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A controversial interpretation

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

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

The original design

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A palimpsest of history

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Bible carved in stone

The side aisles