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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

The Great Restoration

Mosaic decoration

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

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The towers and the western facade

The rediscovered chapel

Transformations over the centuries

A palimpsest of history

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The cultural substrate through time

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Bible carved in stone

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The lost chapel

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The stone bible

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

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

Ecclesia munita

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

The Cathedral over the centuries

The king’s mark

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Squaring the circle

The side aisles

The longest aisle

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Survey of the royal tombs

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The Chapel of the Kings

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The southern portico

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

Roger II’s strategic design

The mosaics of the apses

A Northern population

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

A tree full of life

The cemetery of kings

The original design

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Virgin Hodegetria

A space between the visible and the invisible

The balance between architecture and light

A controversial interpretation

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

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Worship services

The mosaics of the presbytery

A remarkable ceiling

The decorated facade

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Interior decorations

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The area of the Sanctuary

Palermo: the happiest city

The senses tell Context 1

A new Cathedral

From the Mosque to the Cathedral