Palermo Cathedral
St. Mary Magdalene

The senses tell St. Mary Magdalene

sight
The treasure of the Cathedral

The shrines that hold the Cathedral’s treasure shine. Visiting the rooms is like travelling back in time and reliving a never forgotten past. The crown, three gold rings with precious stones and a plaque found in the tomb of Frederick II’s first wife, Constance of Aragon, can still be admired today. There are also: an ivory shrine; two polygonal medallions; a silver and gilded bronze shrine; a silver chalice; a gilded bronze and pierced silver shrine from the Gothic period; the Carondolet antependium in silk, velvet and gold; the Peace of St. Luke; the chalice of Charles III of Spain; an embossed and chiselled silver shrine containing the wood of the Holy Cross; the Barbavara chalice and the Soledad chalice.

touch
Gold and precious stones

The crown of Constance of Aragon, dating back to approximately 1222, was made by the Tiraz of the Royal Palace. The crown, a symbol of luxury and royalty, has side pendants; the cloth cap is embellished with a fine vermicular gold filigree, raw gems collected in baskets and strings of beads elegantly surrounding the enamels. The materials are those worthy of a queen: gold, silver, silk, enamel, pearls, precious stones.

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

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

Transformations over the centuries

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

A controversial interpretation

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The longest aisle

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

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

The decorated facade

Mosaic decoration

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

A new Cathedral

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The senses tell Context 1

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The towers and the western facade

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

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The southern portico

Squaring the circle

The beginning of the construction site

A palimpsest of history

The area of the Sanctuary

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A Northern population

The Cathedral over the centuries

Interior decorations

The original design

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Palermo: the happiest city

The rediscovered chapel

The chapel of St. Benedict

The lost chapel

The stone bible

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

The cultural substrate through time

Worship services

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The king’s mark

A tree full of life

Ecclesia munita

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A remarkable ceiling

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Roger II’s strategic design

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The side aisles

The Chapel of the Kings

Under the crosses of the Bema

Survey of the royal tombs

The Great Restoration

The balance between architecture and light

The Bible carved in stone

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

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

The mosaics of the apses

The cemetery of kings

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