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 Cathedral over the centuries

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

Survey of the royal tombs

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The king’s mark

The balance between architecture and light

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The cemetery of kings

The stone bible

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

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

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

A controversial interpretation

The senses tell Context 1

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

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

A space between the visible and the invisible

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

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

The area of the Sanctuary

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

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

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The Chapel of the Kings

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

Interior decorations

The chapel of St. Benedict

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

Squaring the circle

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

The southern portico

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

A palimpsest of history

Mosaic decoration

The towers and the western facade

The mosaics of the presbytery

The Bible carved in stone

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

A new Cathedral

The Great Restoration

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The Virgin Hodegetria

Ecclesia munita

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

The mosaics of the apses

Under the crosses of the Bema

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Palermo: the happiest city

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The original design

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

The side aisles

Roger II’s strategic design

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

The beginning of the construction site

The lost chapel

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Beyond the harmony of proportions

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

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

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

A tree full of life

The longest aisle

The decorated facade

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

A Northern population

A remarkable ceiling

The cultural substrate through time

The rediscovered chapel

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Transformations over the centuries

The Gualtiero Cathedral

Worship services