Palermo Cathedral
The central body: the aisles

The Great Restoration

Once the clergy’s appeal was accepted, the royal architect Ferdinando Fuga was commissioned to draw up a major project for the “restoration” of Palermo Cathedral. The project was then implemented in the construction work, carried out from 1781 to 1801 by the architects Carlo Chenchi and Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia , varying slightly from the initial design.
The project involved the entire cathedral with massive transformations, both inside and out.
The most striking feature was the insertion of the large arm through the transept .
At the intersection of the transept and the nave, the majestic drum and its dome were inserted, a feature that particularly denoted the external configuration of the church.
Thus, the interior of the hall was profoundly modified, in an engineering operation that was certainly daring for the time. In fact, the entire roof was dismantled and repositioned higher up, in order to raise the walls of the nave by more than two metres. This made it possible to create a large rounded barrel vault , in the prevailing neoclassical style, to cover the nave , in continuity with the new choir chapel, beyond the transept.
All the interior decoration was characterised by plaster and stucco, typical of the late 18th century, with a light colouring in shades of grey-blue and white.
The original pointed arches were modified and round arches were inserted, supported by large pillars, built to replace the previous tetrastyle system with Egyptian granite columns, which were first removed and, following a choral protest, relocated next to the new pillars.

The towers and the western facade

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

Ecclesia munita

A tree full of life

Under the crosses of the Bema

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Bible carved in stone

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The rediscovered chapel

A palimpsest of history

The Cathedral over the centuries

Squaring the circle

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The decorated facade

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The mosaics of the apses

A Northern population

The cemetery of kings

The Great Restoration

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Chapel of the Kings

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

The original design

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Mosaic decoration

The stone bible

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The area of the Sanctuary

The mosaics of the presbytery

The senses tell Context 1

The beginning of the construction site

The southern portico

Palermo: the happiest city

Roger II’s strategic design

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

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

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

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

A new Cathedral

Interior decorations

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

Worship services

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The balance between architecture and light

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Survey of the royal tombs

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The longest aisle

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The side aisles

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The Virgin Hodegetria

The king’s mark

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

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

The cultural substrate through time

Transformations over the centuries

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

The lost chapel

A remarkable ceiling

A controversial interpretation

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time