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 towers facing the facade used as bell towers

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

The stone bible

A Northern population

Interior decorations

The Great Restoration

The Chapel of the Kings

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

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

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

The area of the Sanctuary

A tree full of life

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

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

Roger II’s strategic design

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The rediscovered chapel

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Under the crosses of the Bema

The Cathedral over the centuries

Survey of the royal tombs

The longest aisle

The cultural substrate through time

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

Palermo: the happiest city

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

From the Mosque to the 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

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

The lost chapel

The senses tell Context 1

The king’s mark

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

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

The mosaics of the apses

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

The Bible carved in stone

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

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

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

The chapel of St. Benedict

A space between the visible and the invisible

Squaring the circle

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

The balance between architecture and light

The towers and the western facade

A palimpsest of history

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

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

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

Ecclesia munita

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

Mosaic decoration

A new Cathedral

The beginning of the construction site

The Gualtiero Cathedral

A controversial interpretation

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The southern portico

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

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The cemetery of kings

The mosaics of the presbytery

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Transformations over the centuries

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

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

The original design

The decorated facade

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The side aisles

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

Worship services

A remarkable ceiling

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral