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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A new Cathedral

The king’s mark

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Bible carved in stone

The stone bible

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

Squaring the circle

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Interior decorations

A Northern population

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

The lost chapel

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The mosaics of the presbytery

The side aisles

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The balance between architecture and light

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The senses tell Context 1

Roger II’s strategic design

The mosaics of the apses

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

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

The Great Restoration

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A palimpsest of history

The towers and the western facade

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Mosaic decoration

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

Worship services

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The cemetery of kings

The rediscovered chapel

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A remarkable ceiling

Transformations over the centuries

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

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

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

A tree full of life

A space between the visible and the invisible

The longest aisle

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The beginning of the construction site

The cultural substrate through time

Ecclesia munita

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

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The southern portico

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Palermo: the happiest city

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The original design

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

A controversial interpretation

Under the crosses of the Bema

The area of the Sanctuary

The Chapel of the Kings

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Survey of the royal tombs

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The decorated facade

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Virgin Hodegetria