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 chystro: a place between earth and sky

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

A space between the visible and the invisible

Roger II’s strategic design

A palimpsest of history

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Bible carved in stone

The towers and the western facade

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

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

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The lost chapel

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Chapel of the Kings

The stone bible

The cemetery of kings

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The king’s mark

The beginning of the construction site

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Mosaic decoration

A remarkable ceiling

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Squaring the circle

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Worship services

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The Great Restoration

A new Cathedral

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

The southern portico

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The longest aisle

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Interior decorations

The Cathedral over the centuries

The side aisles

The mosaics of the presbytery

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Palermo: the happiest city

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

Ecclesia munita

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The original design

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The decorated facade

The mosaics of the apses

The senses tell Context 1

The rediscovered chapel

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

Survey of the royal tombs

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

Transformations over the centuries

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The area of the Sanctuary

The cultural substrate through time

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

A controversial interpretation

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

The balance between architecture and light

A Northern population

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

A tree full of life