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.

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The longest aisle

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Ecclesia munita

Interior decorations

The decorated facade

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

A controversial interpretation

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Bible carved in stone

The Great Restoration

The cultural substrate through time

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

Mosaic decoration

The side aisles

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The stone bible

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The king’s mark

A palimpsest of history

Survey of the royal tombs

Worship services

The rediscovered chapel

The towers and the western facade

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Transformations over the centuries

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

Roger II’s strategic design

The balance between architecture and light

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

Squaring the circle

The lost chapel

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The beginning of the construction site

Palermo: the happiest city

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

The southern portico

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

The area of the Sanctuary

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

The mosaics of the apses

The original design

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A Northern population

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The Chapel of the Kings

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The Cathedral over the centuries

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The cemetery of kings

A remarkable ceiling

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

A new Cathedral

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

A tree full of life

Under the crosses of the Bema

A space between the visible and the invisible

The Virgin Hodegetria

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The senses tell Context 1