Cefalù Cathedral
context 1

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The climate of political, social and cultural renewal that had distinguished the reign of the Hauteville family was interrupted, at the end of the monarchy, by disagreements between Emperor Frederick of Swabia and the Church of Cefalù. This caused a slowdown in the urban and economic growth of the city. The monastic orders and the feudal aristocracy became the new protagonists; the first, represented by the Benedictine order and Franciscans settled in different areas of the urban fabric. The Benedictine monastery of St. Catherine rose inside the walls, almost level with the great plain, opposite the cathedral, while the choice of the Franciscans was oriented outside the southern walls, with the 1225 construction of St. Francis’ convent, near the road leading to the city.Shortly afterwards, towards the middle of the 13th century, Cefalù welcomed the ancient and influential noble family of Ventimiglia, who continued to be present in the Cefalù territory throughout the 14th century. The advent of the Ligurian aristocratic family undermined the role of the civitas episcopal and its power, to the point of wearing it down.
Deriving from the investment of conspicuous wealth from family properties in the neighbouring areas, the aforementioned undermining manifested itself through the building of their residence, the hospicium magnum , located in a strategic area of the via regia, between the cathedral floor and the main gate. The complex, represented by the side street, which coincides with the present-day Via Amendola, can be seen in a drawing dating back to the 16th century, discovered during recent restoration work. Its peculiarity, which distinguished it from the typical feudal residences with a compact urban structure, was in the different typology that distinguished its settlement model, made up of several interconnected buildings, according to an architectural tradition present in Liguria during the 13th century. Nevertheless, the Ventimiglia family did not alter the urban scheme derived from the Norman re-foundation, but created a dialogue between the architectural layout of their buildings and that of the latter. However, the domus magna building shifted the attention from what, until then, was considered to be the centerpiece of the urban fabric, the Cathedral.
A new feudal secular axis of the complex, erected by the powerful family, was added to the bishop’s epicentre and remained unchanged for a long time.

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The king’s mark

A remarkable ceiling

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Mosaic decoration

The Virgin Hodegetria

Survey of the royal tombs

The balance between architecture and light

A palimpsest of history

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

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

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The side aisles

The towers and the western facade

The cemetery of kings

The Bible carved in stone

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

Ecclesia munita

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The decorated facade

The Chapel of the Kings

A space between the visible and the invisible

The rediscovered chapel

Worship services

Under the crosses of the Bema

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

The lost chapel

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Interior decorations

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

A controversial interpretation

A tree full of life

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

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

The stone bible

Palermo: the happiest city

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Roger II’s strategic design

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A Northern population

The original design

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Cathedral over the centuries

The mosaics of the apses

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cultural substrate through time

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The southern portico

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

The senses tell Context 1

Transformations over the centuries

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

The beginning of the construction site

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The longest aisle

A new Cathedral

Squaring the circle

The Great Restoration