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.

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The mosaics of the apses

The balance between architecture and light

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Survey of the royal tombs

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The beginning of the construction site

A remarkable ceiling

The Cathedral over the centuries

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A Northern population

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The side aisles

Transformations over the centuries

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The longest aisle

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The decorated facade

Worship services

Ecclesia munita

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

A palimpsest of history

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Bible carved in stone

Mosaic decoration

Palermo: the happiest city

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

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

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

The king’s mark

The Virgin Hodegetria

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The rediscovered chapel

Squaring the circle

The mosaics of the presbytery

The original design

The Great Restoration

A new Cathedral

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Interior decorations

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Roger II’s strategic design

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

A tree full of life

A controversial interpretation

The lost chapel

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The southern portico

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

The cemetery of kings

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

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

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Chapel of the Kings

The cultural substrate through time

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The stone bible

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The area of the Sanctuary

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The chapel of St. Benedict

The senses tell Context 1

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The towers and the western facade