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.

The balance between architecture and light

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

A space between the visible and the invisible

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A controversial interpretation

The rediscovered chapel

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The towers and the western facade

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The Chapel of the Kings

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Ecclesia munita

The cultural substrate through time

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Bible carved in stone

The Virgin Hodegetria

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Palermo: the happiest city

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

The southern portico

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

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A tree full of life

The side aisles

A palimpsest of history

Transformations over the centuries

The stone bible

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

A new Cathedral

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

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

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

The mosaics of the apses

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

Survey of the royal tombs

The decorated facade

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Worship services

Roger II’s strategic design

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

Interior decorations

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The king’s mark

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Mosaic decoration

A remarkable ceiling

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The longest aisle

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Under the crosses of the Bema

Squaring the circle

The senses tell Context 1

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The lost chapel

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

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The cemetery of kings

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The area of the Sanctuary

The Cathedral over the centuries

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

A Northern population

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

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The beginning of the construction site

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

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

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The Great Restoration

The original design