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 mosaics of the apses

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The cultural substrate through time

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Mosaic decoration

Palermo: the happiest city

The mosaics of the presbytery

Survey of the royal tombs

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

Interior decorations

The Virgin Hodegetria

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

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

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

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The southern portico

A tree full of life

A remarkable ceiling

The cemetery of kings

The Bible carved in stone

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

Ecclesia munita

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

The king’s mark

Squaring the circle

A new Cathedral

The stone bible

A palimpsest of history

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Transformations over the centuries

The lost chapel

The original design

Worship services

Roger II’s strategic design

A Northern population

The balance between architecture and light

Under the crosses of the Bema

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

The beginning of the construction site

The Cathedral over the centuries

The Chapel of the Kings

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

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

A controversial interpretation

The Kings’ Cathedrals

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

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

The senses tell Context 1

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

The longest aisle

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

The side aisles

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The area of the Sanctuary

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The chapel of St. Benedict

The Great Restoration

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The decorated facade

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

The towers and the western facade