Cefalù Cathedral
the church hall

A space between the visible and the invisible

A place of experimentation in the late Romanesque age, closely linked to the monumental buildings of the great European churches, the Cefalù Cathedral draws a definitive dividing line between the earliest phase of the architecture in Norman Sicily. Entering Roger’s Temple, a path leads up from the porta regum  to the apsidal basin , where we are enveloped by an east-facing basilica-like space with a Latin cross plan .
The atmosphere is charged with symbolic elements , inviting us to embark on exodal path from darkness to light, religiously represented by Christ’s Parousiastic return through the anticipatory Altar of the Eucharist .
The thickness of the walls, even of the rear elevation, seems to emphasise the desire to draw a definitive line between the spiritual space of the Cathedral and the material space of the outside world, where the only light entering is that coming from a multitude of windows. It caresses the architectural masses of the liturgical spaces through the vibrant modulation of the colours of the contemporary stained-glass windows , evocative of the mosaic ornamentation that was supposed to decorate nave , but was never produced.

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Bible carved in stone

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

A tree full of life

A remarkable ceiling

Survey of the royal tombs

The area of the Sanctuary

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

Palermo: the happiest city

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

The original design

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The beginning of the construction site

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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

The mosaics of the apses

The rediscovered chapel

The southern portico

Transformations over the centuries

The side aisles

The mosaics of the presbytery

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Interior decorations

The stone bible

A Northern population

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

The king’s mark

Roger II’s strategic design

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Under the crosses of the Bema

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The longest aisle

Ecclesia munita

The Cathedral over the centuries

A controversial interpretation

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

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

The cultural substrate through time

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Squaring the circle

The chapel of St. Benedict

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

Mosaic decoration

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

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

The decorated facade

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Great Restoration

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The senses tell Context 1

A palimpsest of history

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The balance between architecture and light

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A space between the visible and the invisible

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The towers and the western facade

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

The cemetery of kings

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A new Cathedral

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

The lost chapel

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

The Chapel of the Kings

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Worship services