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 tree full of life

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Palermo: the happiest city

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The area of the Sanctuary

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A Northern population

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The towers and the western facade

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

The Bible carved in stone

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

Survey of the royal tombs

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

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

Roger II’s strategic design

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Squaring the circle

Interior decorations

A remarkable ceiling

The Cathedral over the centuries

Transformations over the centuries

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The southern portico

A palimpsest of history

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The stone bible

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The balance between architecture and light

The longest aisle

The cemetery of kings

The lost chapel

Worship services

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

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

The Great Restoration

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

A controversial interpretation

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

The cultural substrate through time

The decorated facade

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The original design

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

A space between the visible and the invisible

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Under the crosses of the Bema

The side aisles

The Chapel of the Kings

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Mosaic decoration

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The mosaics of the apses

The senses tell Context 1

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The beginning of the construction site

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A new Cathedral

The king’s mark

The chapel of St. Benedict

Ecclesia munita

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

From the Mosque to the Cathedral