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.

A tree full of life

Mosaic decoration

The Cathedral over the centuries

The decorated facade

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

The lost chapel

The side aisles

The cemetery of kings

Worship services

The senses tell Context 1

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

The Great Restoration

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The Virgin Hodegetria

The towers and the western facade

A remarkable ceiling

A space between the visible and the invisible

The cultural substrate through time

The area of the Sanctuary

Beyond the harmony of proportions

A Northern population

The chapel of St. Benedict

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Palermo: the happiest city

The beginning of the construction site

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The Gualtiero Cathedral

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

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

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

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

The king’s mark

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The longest aisle

The rediscovered chapel

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The balance between architecture and light

A new Cathedral

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The mosaics of the apses

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The Bible carved in stone

The southern portico

The Chapel of the Kings

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

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

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Ecclesia munita

Roger II’s strategic design

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

Interior decorations

The stone bible

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

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

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Under the crosses of the Bema

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

Survey of the royal tombs

Squaring the circle

A palimpsest of history

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

The original design

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A controversial interpretation

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