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.

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Survey of the royal tombs

The original design

Worship services

Palermo: the happiest city

The mosaics of the presbytery

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

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

The senses tell Context 1

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The side aisles

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The stone bible

The Virgin Hodegetria

The rediscovered chapel

A palimpsest of history

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

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

The cultural substrate through time

A Northern population

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

Interior decorations

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The decorated facade

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

The area of the Sanctuary

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The mosaics of the apses

The beginning of the construction site

The balance between architecture and light

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

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

The towers and the western facade

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Bible carved in stone

Mosaic decoration

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The Chapel of the Kings

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A controversial interpretation

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The chapel of St. Benedict

Under the crosses of the Bema

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

The cemetery of kings

The southern portico

The Great Restoration

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

The king’s mark

A tree full of life

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

A new Cathedral

Roger II’s strategic design

Transformations over the centuries

Ecclesia munita

Squaring the circle

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The lost chapel

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A remarkable ceiling

The longest aisle

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The Cathedral over the centuries