Monreale Cathedral
the internal areas

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

From the right-hand side aisle of the cathedral, passing through a portal which may date back to William II’s era, located symmetrically on the opposite side of the side entrance, we enter the chapel of San Castrense , located in the north wing of the cloister.Even from the representations appearing in relief on the walnut shutters, decorated with foliage, we can see the image of the chapel’s namesake Holy Bishop on the left, at the front, wearing a mitre, holding a crosier and giving a blessing.This is followed, on the right, by the frontal figure of Archbishop Ludovico II de Torres , who commissioned this space and who, stripped of his iconographic attributes and bareheaded, holds only a cross-shaped staff to emphasise his mission as Pastor. The founder’s noble lineage is commemorated in the coats of arms below, where five skilfully inlaid towers stand out.
The geometric profile of the squares, lightened by iron grilles adorning the central area, are interrupted by the sinuous design of the bronze ring-shaped handles, each decorated with putti holding the Torrese coat of arms, supported by a cherub.
Work on the construction and decoration of this first important Renaissance work inside the cathedral lasted from 1588 to 1609. This project was carried out to contain the relics of the patron saint of the city and the archdiocese, which had arrived in Monreale on 29 December 1596 at the behest of Alfano, Bishop of Capua, as a wedding gift for the sovereign.
As well as fulfilling the desire already expressed by Ludovico I de Torres, the construction of the chapel was also intended to fulfil a personal wish of his successor. He wanted to make it his own burial place, a wish that remained unfulfilled, as his remains remained in Rome in the Church of San Pancrazio, where he was appointed patron, when he died in 1609.

The Chapel of the Kings

Roger II’s strategic design

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

The southern portico

The beginning of the construction site

The chapel of St. Benedict

Worship services

The Virgin Hodegetria

The king’s mark

A controversial interpretation

Transformations over the centuries

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

Squaring the circle

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

The rediscovered chapel

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

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Palermo: the happiest city

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A space between the visible and the invisible

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Interior decorations

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The original design

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The senses tell Context 1

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

The Bible carved in stone

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

The Great Restoration

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The balance between architecture and light

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

The cemetery of kings

The side aisles

The longest aisle

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

The mosaics of the apses

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The stone bible

Mosaic decoration

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The cultural substrate through time

A Northern population

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A new Cathedral

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

A remarkable ceiling

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Ecclesia munita

A tree full of life

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Survey of the royal tombs

The Cathedral over the centuries

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A palimpsest of history

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

The area of the Sanctuary

The towers and the western facade

The lost chapel

The decorated facade

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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