Cefalù Cathedral
context 3

The senses tell the context 3

sight
A majestic rock mass

The Cefalù Cathedral stands out on a terrace perched on the imposing rock mass stretching out towards the sea and embraced by the jagged peaks of the Sicilian Apennines between the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains. If we look at the rest of the landscape, a sequence of silhouettes comes to life, built at different times and hierarchically dependent on the cathedral. These include the cloister, the bishop’s palace, the seminary with its adjoining courtyard and the Turniale, which dates from a later period, and are distributed along the northern side of the church. The latter appears as a large embankment functioning as a churchyard, also used as a burial place.

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The longest aisle

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

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

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

The Chapel of the Kings

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The southern portico

The cultural substrate through time

The Virgin Hodegetria

The senses tell Context 1

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Under the crosses of the Bema

The decorated facade

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Survey of the royal tombs

A tree full of life

The area of the Sanctuary

The side aisles

The rediscovered chapel

The Cathedral over the centuries

The Great Restoration

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Ecclesia munita

Worship services

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

Interior decorations

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

A controversial interpretation

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

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

A Northern population

Roger II’s strategic design

The king’s mark

The balance between architecture and light

The cemetery of kings

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The original design

Mosaic decoration

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

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

The mosaics of the apses

Squaring the circle

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The towers and the western facade

The beginning of the construction site

A new Cathedral

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The lost chapel

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Bible carved in stone

A palimpsest of history

The chapel of St. Benedict

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The stone bible

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

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Palermo: the happiest city

Transformations over the centuries

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A remarkable ceiling

The Kings’ Cathedrals

A space between the visible and the invisible

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

The mosaics of the presbytery

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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