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.

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

Interior decorations

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The cemetery of kings

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

The king’s mark

The towers and the western facade

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The cultural substrate through time

The mosaics of the presbytery

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

The original design

The senses tell Context 1

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

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

A Northern population

The southern portico

Roger II’s strategic design

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The mosaics of the apses

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Ecclesia munita

The decorated facade

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Chapel of the Kings

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

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

A new Cathedral

The rediscovered chapel

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The Bible carved in stone

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

Squaring the circle

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Palermo: the happiest city

The balance between architecture and light

Transformations over the centuries

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

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The longest aisle

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

Under the crosses of the Bema

The chapel of St. Benedict

A tree full of life

The beginning of the construction site

The Cathedral over the centuries

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

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

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Mosaic decoration

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The stone bible

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

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

A palimpsest of history

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The Great Restoration

A controversial interpretation

The area of the Sanctuary

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

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

The side aisles

Survey of the royal tombs

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The Kings’ Cathedrals

Worship services

The Virgin Hodegetria

The lost chapel

A remarkable ceiling

A space between the visible and the invisible