Monreale Cathedral
the Context 1

The senses tell Context 1

sight
The vegetation of the Palermo plain

As Ugo Falcando carefully describes, the flourishing vegetation of the landscape of the Palermo plain in the 12th century showed colours ranging from the pink hues of the lumia flowers to the bright tones of the oranges and pomegranates, similar to the fiery streaks of timeless sunsets.

smell
Scent of spices and colours

New fruit trees such as cedars, lemons and oranges were introduced to the endless green expanses of the flourishing Palermo plain as part of a diverse cultivation system. In addition to the pleasant view enhanced by a rich palette of colours, there was no shortage of the spicy scents of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and jasmine, which permeated the air with a mixture of Middle Eastern aromas.

hearing
Parks, gardens and water features

In the parks and gardens, you can hear the water gushing. The knowledge with which the Arab culture was imbued, starting with the development of science and mathematics, also involved the reorganisation of the layout of Palermo. The city became an area where studies on water channelling systems, including the underground water channels known as quanāt, gave impetus to the construction of parks and suburban gardens enriched by the presence of surface pipelines, saie, fountains and water collection tanks.

A palimpsest of history

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

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The side aisles

Roger II’s strategic design

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

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

A Northern population

A remarkable ceiling

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Interior decorations

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

A new Cathedral

The Chapel of the Kings

The cultural substrate through time

Transformations over the centuries

Palermo: the happiest city

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

The Great Restoration

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

The balance between architecture and light

The area of the Sanctuary

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Bible carved in stone

The Cathedral over the centuries

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The senses tell Context 1

Ecclesia munita

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Survey of the royal tombs

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The southern portico

A controversial interpretation

The lost chapel

The towers and the western facade

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Under the crosses of the Bema

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

Squaring the circle

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The stone bible

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A tree full of life

The king’s mark

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The cemetery of kings

The longest aisle

The rediscovered chapel

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Worship services

The beginning of the construction site

The Virgin Hodegetria

The original design

A space between the visible and the invisible

Mosaic decoration

The mosaics of the presbytery

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The decorated facade

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The mosaics of the apses