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.

Mosaic decoration

The balance between architecture and light

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Transformations over the centuries

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The original design

A Northern population

Palermo: the happiest city

The mosaics of the presbytery

Under the crosses of the Bema

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The king’s mark

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The decorated facade

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

Survey of the royal tombs

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

A new Cathedral

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The stone bible

Squaring the circle

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Interior decorations

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

A palimpsest of history

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

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The senses tell Context 1

Ecclesia munita

The Great Restoration

The towers and the western facade

The Chapel of the Kings

The side aisles

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The beginning of the construction site

Roger II’s strategic design

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The longest aisle

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Beyond the harmony of proportions

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

The mosaics of the apses

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

A tree full of life

The cemetery of kings

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The lost chapel

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A remarkable ceiling

The rediscovered chapel

Worship services

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

The cultural substrate through time

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

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

The southern portico

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The Bible carved in stone

A space between the visible and the invisible

A controversial interpretation

The Virgin Hodegetria

The area of the Sanctuary