Cefalù Cathedral
context 3

The senses tell the context 3

sight
A majestic rock mass

The Cefalù Cathedral stands out on a terrace perched on the imposing rock mass stretching out towards the sea and embraced by the jagged peaks of the Sicilian Apennines between the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains. If we look at the rest of the landscape, a sequence of silhouettes comes to life, built at different times and hierarchically dependent on the cathedral. These include the cloister, the bishop’s palace, the seminary with its adjoining courtyard and the Turniale, which dates from a later period, and are distributed along the northern side of the church. The latter appears as a large embankment functioning as a churchyard, also used as a burial place.

The southern portico

The chapel of St. Benedict

The side aisles

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A tree full of life

Under the crosses of the Bema

The senses tell Context 1

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

Squaring the circle

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

The rediscovered chapel

The mosaics of the apses

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

Survey of the royal tombs

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The cultural substrate through time

A remarkable ceiling

The longest aisle

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The Cathedral over the centuries

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The king’s mark

Roger II’s strategic design

The original design

Ecclesia munita

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Palermo: the happiest city

The beginning of the construction site

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The mosaics of the presbytery

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Worship services

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Mosaic decoration

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The decorated facade

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The cemetery of kings

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

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

Transformations over the centuries

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A palimpsest of history

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The Chapel of the Kings

Interior decorations

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A Northern population

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

The towers and the western facade

The stone bible

A controversial interpretation

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A new Cathedral

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

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

The Great Restoration

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The lost chapel

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

The balance between architecture and light

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

The Bible carved in stone