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 lost chapel

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

Squaring the circle

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

A tree full of life

The Cathedral over the centuries

Interior decorations

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The chapel of St. Benedict

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Roger II’s strategic design

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The Virgin Hodegetria

A controversial interpretation

The longest aisle

The Chapel of the Kings

The original design

A Northern population

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A palimpsest of history

The mosaics of the apses

The balance between architecture and light

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The southern portico

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

The Great Restoration

The senses tell Context 1

The king’s mark

Survey of the royal tombs

Mosaic decoration

The stone bible

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

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

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The cemetery of kings

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

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

The side aisles

A remarkable ceiling

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

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

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

The towers and the western facade

Worship services

The mosaics of the presbytery

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Palermo: the happiest city

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

The decorated facade

A new Cathedral

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Transformations over the centuries

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The rediscovered chapel

The cultural substrate through time

The Bible carved in stone

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

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

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

Ecclesia munita

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

The area of the Sanctuary

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers