Cefalù Cathedral
the chystro

Squaring the circle

Entering the cloister of Cefalù Cathedral not only means plunging into a path steeped in medieval art that seems to reawaken the different decorative motifs animating the capitals of the columns as we pass, but also being pervaded by an architecture of light.
In accordance with Christian symbolism, it is oriented so that each of its spaces is illuminated in a different way, following the orientation of the sun.
Following its itinerary, made up of the transcendence of the circle inserted in the immanence of the square, we are invited to embark on a spiritual journey of purification that begins where the light sets, symbolically linked to Adam and the Old Testament, and then reaches the New Testament dimension, pervaded by the radiance of the incarnation and the promise. Even the plants arranged in the garden have always represented an ascetic message, capable of enveloping those who walk through it in a sense of theophany that unfolds along the way.

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The lost chapel

A tree full of life

The Bible carved in stone

Ecclesia munita

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

A Northern population

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cultural substrate through time

The senses tell Context 1

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The area of the Sanctuary

Worship services

The original design

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

Palermo: the happiest city

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The king’s mark

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The decorated facade

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Cathedral over the centuries

The side aisles

The Chapel of the Kings

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

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

A palimpsest of history

Squaring the circle

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The longest aisle

The rediscovered chapel

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

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A controversial interpretation

A new Cathedral

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The balance between architecture and light

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Under the crosses of the Bema

The towers and the western facade

Roger II’s strategic design

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The Great Restoration

The mosaics of the apses

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Virgin Hodegetria

Interior decorations

Mosaic decoration

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The stone bible

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

A remarkable ceiling

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A space between the visible and the invisible

The southern portico

The cemetery of kings

Survey of the royal tombs

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries