Palermo Cathedral
The Context 2

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The cathedral remained unchanged in its structure for almost a hundred years after the arrival of the Normans. During the reign of William II , grandson of Roger II , the church was restored and designed as an ecclesia munita from 1170 onwards,at the behest of Archbishop Gualtiero , a Proto family member of the King. The Cathedral was reopened for worship on April 6, 1185, with a lavish ceremony.
It is probable that the decision to renovate the sacred building was made not only to provide the city with a temple worthy of the kingdom’s capital, but also because of the damage caused to the church by the seismic event of 4 February 1169, known as the “ earthquake of Sant'Agata “, which caused extensive ruin throughout most of Sicily. Palermo Cathedral was rebuilt at the same time as the construction of the Monreale Cathedral, commissioned by William II, as part of his plans to govern the territory by creating emblematic places of worship.
For both sacred buildings, records tell the story of the discovery of a treasure, the one found by the Virgin Mary, who came to William in a dream to facilitate the construction of the Monreale Cathedral, and the one found during the construction of the church of the Holy Spirit , for the renovation of the church in Palermo.

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

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

Roger II’s strategic design

The beginning of the construction site

A tree full of life

The balance between architecture and light

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The original design

A new Cathedral

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The mosaics of the presbytery

The stone bible

The senses tell Context 1

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

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

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

The decorated facade

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

Ecclesia munita

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Transformations over the centuries

The king’s mark

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Mosaic decoration

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The area of the Sanctuary

Worship services

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

The Chapel of the Kings

The Great Restoration

The towers and the western facade

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

The mosaics of the apses

Squaring the circle

A controversial interpretation

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

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

Interior decorations

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The cultural substrate through time

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

A Northern population

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Survey of the royal tombs

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

A space between the visible and the invisible

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Cathedral over the centuries

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A palimpsest of history

Palermo: the happiest city

The rediscovered chapel

The lost chapel

The cemetery of kings

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

Under the crosses of the Bema

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The longest aisle

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The southern portico

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Virgin Hodegetria

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

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

A remarkable ceiling

The Bible carved in stone

The side aisles