Monreale Cathedral
the context 2

The senses tell Context 2

sight
An important construction site

A building such as the Monreale Cathedral, outlined by a multiform stylistic syncretism, reflected a deep religious implication promoted by William II. The ruler succeeded in consolidating the Western Christian influence through a fruitful and peaceful dialogue with the Byzantine-Oriental and Muslim-Arab cultures from the very year of his coronation in 1172. Alongside the Cathedral, surrounded by a flourishing natural setting, work began on the foundation of the Royal Palace in the same year, followed in 1176 by the construction of the Benedictine Monastery adjacent to it.

The area of the Sanctuary

The towers and the western facade

The Chapel of the Kings

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

A Northern population

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The southern portico

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The stone bible

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cemetery of kings

The Virgin Hodegetria

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

A remarkable ceiling

A palimpsest of history

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The beginning of the construction site

The Bible carved in stone

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

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

Squaring the circle

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The balance between architecture and light

The chapel of St. Benedict

Under the crosses of the Bema

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

A space between the visible and the invisible

The side aisles

The rediscovered chapel

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A controversial interpretation

Mosaic decoration

The cultural substrate through time

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The longest aisle

The Cathedral over the centuries

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

The senses tell Context 1

The lost chapel

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Survey of the royal tombs

The mosaics of the presbytery

Worship services

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

A new Cathedral

A tree full of life

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Ecclesia munita

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The original design

The king’s mark

Interior decorations

Palermo: the happiest city

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

The Great Restoration

Roger II’s strategic design

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

Transformations over the centuries

The decorated facade

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

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

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

The mosaics of the apses