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.

A space between the visible and the invisible

Roger II’s strategic design

Mosaic decoration

Palermo: the happiest city

The rediscovered chapel

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

The cemetery of kings

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The lost chapel

A tree full of life

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Worship services

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

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

The beginning of the construction site

The Chapel of the Kings

A remarkable ceiling

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

The mosaics of the apses

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A Northern population

Survey of the royal tombs

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The area of the Sanctuary

The king’s mark

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

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

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

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

The side aisles

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

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

Ecclesia munita

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A palimpsest of history

Transformations over the centuries

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Bible carved in stone

The Virgin Hodegetria

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A new Cathedral

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Cathedral over the centuries

Interior decorations

The stone bible

The longest aisle

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

The senses tell Context 1

A controversial interpretation

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The balance between architecture and light

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The towers and the western facade

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The cultural substrate through time

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The original design

The Great Restoration

The southern portico

Squaring the circle

The decorated facade