Cefalù Cathedral
the two towers

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

At first glance, the western façade of the Cathedral has a compositional structure that is independent from the rest of the building, functioning as a transverse link to the two towers accessible from different heights.The massive vertical momentum of the latter and the fact that they belong to the Norman period, however, still conceals an Islamic military reference to the presence of tall square parallelepipeds crowned by smaller structures. Their shape only gives this part of Cefalù Cathedral an Arabesque profile, to the extent that comparisons can be made with the minarets of Sfax and Kairouan . Among the elements attributable to Kairouan, in addition to the already mentioned square plan, we cannot overlook the attention to the geometric relationship between base and height, the presence of the lantern, the azrî crowned by the battlements at the top and the terrace in the middle of which it stands. The interior of the towers also hides spaces with structures present in the minarets of the western area, such as the presence of rooms arranged at various heights connected by spiral staircases, strategically linked to the system of pathways that ran along the perimeter of the building. However, apart from the latter explicitly Hispano-Maghreb references, the towers of the Cefalù Cathedral can be considered one of the examples of Romanesque churches bell towers .

Roger II’s strategic design

Transformations over the centuries

The side aisles

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The senses tell Context 1

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

The king’s mark

The Cathedral over the centuries

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The mosaics of the presbytery

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

Palermo: the happiest city

The chapel of St. Benedict

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The stone bible

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Survey of the royal tombs

Squaring the circle

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Chapel of the Kings

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Ecclesia munita

The mosaics of the apses

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

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

The Bible carved in stone

A Northern population

The beginning of the construction site

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

The longest aisle

The lost chapel

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

The towers and the western facade

A new Cathedral

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The cemetery of kings

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The cultural substrate through time

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

The decorated facade

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

Interior decorations

The balance between architecture and light

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A palimpsest of history

A controversial interpretation

The Great Restoration

A tree full of life

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Worship services

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

The southern portico

Mosaic decoration

A remarkable ceiling

The rediscovered chapel

The area of the Sanctuary

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The original design

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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