Palermo Cathedral
The Context 2

A palimpsest of history

The Cathedral is located in the centre, in the heart of the ancient city, in an elevated position, close to the Royal Palace, to which it was connected by a covered street. There is a large open space on the southern front, which is now enclosed by a balustrade.
This large square is not a simple churchyard or garden, but a tangible sign of what was once Palermo’s great Friday Mosque and was intended to form the large porticoed courtyard adjacent to it.
This was, in fact, an atrium, originally enclosed on three sides by high walls, surrounded by porticoed arches and with two fountains in the centre. Until the middle of the 16th century, the fair of Santa Cristina was held there. In the 16th century, when the decision was made to demolish the walls and create an open space, bordered by an elegant balustrade, the two fountains which are still visible today, which are probably the remains of the fountains for the ablutions of the faithful in the ancient Mosque, were kept as a memorial.
This is supported by the anomalous position of Palermo Cathedral, which is not canonically oriented on the west-east axis towards the apse, but on the south-west-north-east axis, where its façade, which faces south, is actually directed towards Mecca .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the church, on this façade, recent restorations have unearthed one of the probable seven al-mihrab indicating the direction of Mecca. Other parts of the ancient Mosque were found, and reused in the renovation of the Cathedral, as was the custom of the time, as witnessed by a column in the southern portico, which has a verse from the Surah of the Qur’an .

Today’s cathedral has undergone many changes over the years, especially at the end of the 18th century, when the architect Ferdinando Fuga completely altered the style of the cathedral, both inside to conform to the new taste of the neoclassical style and outside with additions and modifications, including the massive transept, the large dome and the small domes.These changes have made the Palermo Cathedral an admirable palimpsest. Its beauty lies in the various stylistic overlaps, which make it a unique work of art. In its stones, where the evolution of time can be read, the history of this very happy city is engraved.

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Survey of the royal tombs

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Squaring the circle

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The cultural substrate through time

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Great Restoration

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

Roger II’s strategic design

The Cathedral over the centuries

The king’s mark

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A new Cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Interior decorations

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A Northern population

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

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Under the crosses of the Bema

The lost chapel

The mosaics of the apses

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

The Bible carved in stone

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The cemetery of kings

The chapel of St. Benedict

The southern portico

Worship services

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A controversial interpretation

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A remarkable ceiling

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Transformations over the centuries

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

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

A tree full of life

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The towers and the western facade

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

A palimpsest of history

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The balance between architecture and light

The Chapel of the Kings

The rediscovered chapel

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Palermo: the happiest city

The longest aisle

The side aisles

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Ecclesia munita

The area of the Sanctuary

The original design

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The senses tell Context 1

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

The decorated facade

The stone bible

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Mosaic decoration

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

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