Monreale Cathedral
the context 2

The senses tell Context 2

sight
An important construction site

A building such as the Monreale Cathedral, outlined by a multiform stylistic syncretism, reflected a deep religious implication promoted by William II. The ruler succeeded in consolidating the Western Christian influence through a fruitful and peaceful dialogue with the Byzantine-Oriental and Muslim-Arab cultures from the very year of his coronation in 1172. Alongside the Cathedral, surrounded by a flourishing natural setting, work began on the foundation of the Royal Palace in the same year, followed in 1176 by the construction of the Benedictine Monastery adjacent to it.

The Great Restoration

The Chapel of the Kings

The senses tell Context 1

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The southern portico

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The mosaics of the presbytery

The towers and the western facade

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

The cultural substrate through time

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

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

Worship services

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The balance between architecture and light

The beginning of the construction site

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Mosaic decoration

The chapel of St. Benedict

Transformations over the centuries

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A new Cathedral

A controversial interpretation

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The side aisles

Roger II’s strategic design

A palimpsest of history

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

A Northern population

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Squaring the circle

The cemetery of kings

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Interior decorations

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

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

The king’s mark

A remarkable ceiling

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

The mosaics of the apses

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The rediscovered chapel

The longest aisle

The Bible carved in stone

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

A space between the visible and the invisible

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Palermo: the happiest city

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Virgin Hodegetria

Survey of the royal tombs

The stone bible

Under the crosses of the Bema

The original design

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Ecclesia munita

A tree full of life

The decorated facade

The lost chapel