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

A new Cathedral

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Palermo: the happiest city

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Chapel of the Kings

The senses tell Context 1

The king’s mark

The stone bible

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Under the crosses of the Bema

Worship services

A tree full of life

A remarkable ceiling

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The side aisles

The Bible carved in stone

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The original design

The beginning of the construction site

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

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

The cemetery of kings

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

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

Roger II’s strategic design

Interior decorations

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Cathedral over the centuries

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The mosaics of the apses

A controversial interpretation

Survey of the royal tombs

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

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

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Transformations over the centuries

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A palimpsest of history

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A Northern population

The rediscovered chapel

Mosaic decoration

The towers and the western facade

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The decorated facade

The cultural substrate through time

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

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

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The area of the Sanctuary

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Ecclesia munita

The Virgin Hodegetria

The lost chapel

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The balance between architecture and light

The mosaics of the presbytery

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Squaring the circle

The longest aisle

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

The southern portico

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses