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.

Survey of the royal tombs

The side aisles

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

The Virgin Hodegetria

The lost chapel

A tree full of life

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The stone bible

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A palimpsest of history

The Great Restoration

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Squaring the circle

The beginning of the construction site

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The towers and the western facade

The longest aisle

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Bible carved in stone

The mosaics of the apses

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Worship services

The Cathedral over the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Palermo: the happiest city

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

The king’s mark

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The original design

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Under the crosses of the Bema

A Northern population

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

A controversial interpretation

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

A new Cathedral

The chapel of St. Benedict

Ecclesia munita

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The southern portico

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The rediscovered chapel

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Chapel of the Kings

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

The balance between architecture and light

The area of the Sanctuary

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

A remarkable ceiling

Interior decorations

Transformations over the centuries

The decorated facade

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The cemetery of kings

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

The cultural substrate through time

The senses tell Context 1

Mosaic decoration

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

Roger II’s strategic design