Monreale Cathedral
the context 2

The senses tell Context 2

sight
An important construction site

A building such as the Monreale Cathedral, outlined by a multiform stylistic syncretism, reflected a deep religious implication promoted by William II. The ruler succeeded in consolidating the Western Christian influence through a fruitful and peaceful dialogue with the Byzantine-Oriental and Muslim-Arab cultures from the very year of his coronation in 1172. Alongside the Cathedral, surrounded by a flourishing natural setting, work began on the foundation of the Royal Palace in the same year, followed in 1176 by the construction of the Benedictine Monastery adjacent to it.

The decorated facade

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Survey of the royal tombs

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

Interior decorations

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The Great Restoration

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Transformations over the centuries

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

The longest aisle

The Bible carved in stone

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

A Northern population

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

The side aisles

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The balance between architecture and light

The area of the Sanctuary

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

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

The cultural substrate through time

Palermo: the happiest city

The cemetery of kings

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

The original design

A palimpsest of history

The beginning of the construction site

The stone bible

A controversial interpretation

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The chapel of St. Benedict

A new Cathedral

The Cathedral over the centuries

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Chapel of the Kings

The king’s mark

Under the crosses of the Bema

The southern portico

A tree full of life

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A remarkable ceiling

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The senses tell Context 1

Roger II’s strategic design

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The mosaics of the apses

Worship services

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The mosaics of the presbytery

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

Mosaic decoration

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The towers and the western facade

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

Squaring the circle

The rediscovered chapel

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The lost chapel

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

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

Ecclesia munita