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 king’s mark

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Transformations over the centuries

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The chapel of St. Benedict

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The side aisles

The cemetery of kings

The Great Restoration

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Squaring the circle

The Chapel of the Kings

The cultural substrate through time

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

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

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A Northern population

A tree full of life

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The southern portico

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The longest aisle

The decorated facade

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Worship services

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

Roger II’s strategic design

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A new Cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

Mosaic decoration

The lost chapel

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The towers and the western facade

The mosaics of the apses

Palermo: the happiest city

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

The senses tell Context 1

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Survey of the royal tombs

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

A controversial interpretation

The original design

Ecclesia munita

The Cathedral over the centuries

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

A remarkable ceiling

Interior decorations

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

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

The rediscovered chapel

A palimpsest of history

The stone bible

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

The balance between architecture and light

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The area of the Sanctuary

The Bible carved in stone