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

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

The Chapel of the Kings

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A tree full of life

Worship services

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Roger II’s strategic design

The Virgin Hodegetria

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The cultural substrate through time

The balance between architecture and light

A space between the visible and the invisible

The senses tell Context 1

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

The rediscovered chapel

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A new Cathedral

The side aisles

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A controversial interpretation

The mosaics of the presbytery

The decorated facade

Under the crosses of the Bema

Transformations over the centuries

The mosaics of the apses

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

The stone bible

A palimpsest of history

Squaring the circle

The Bible carved in stone

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

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The cemetery of kings

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A Northern population

A remarkable ceiling

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Interior decorations

The original design

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Great Restoration

Mosaic decoration

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The beginning of the construction site

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

The king’s mark

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The chapel of St. Benedict

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

Palermo: the happiest city

The lost chapel

Survey of the royal tombs

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The towers and the western facade

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

The southern portico

Ecclesia munita

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

The longest aisle

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene