The Duomo of Cefalù – Cefalù, Italy - Atlas Obscura

The Duomo of Cefalù

A lesser-known World Heritage site with an amazing Byzantine style mosaic of Jesus on the semi dome of the apse. 

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This Cathedral, in a relatively small town on the north coast of Sicily, was built by the Norman king of the island ( Roger II ) between 1131 and 1240 (the Norman’s had captured Sicily in 1091). It is part of the legend that the king chose to build it there, rather than in the capital  Palermo, after  locals helped rescue him when his vessel foundered in a storm the bay. He is said to have made a vow to the Holy Saviour in thanks for his deliverance. Actually  the reality  is that there were political  advantages  to installation of a statement of power in Cefalu  at the time. The building is said to have a fortress-like character and, when viewed from a distance, it dominates the skyline of the medieval town which surrounds it. It clearly made a powerful statement of the Norman presence to the local inhabitants.

The building is one of 9 structures included in the World Heritage  Site “Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral  Churches of Cefalu and Monreale”.

In front of the cathedral is a large terraced courtyard or parvis, which was used to be  a cemetery. Supposedly, it was created with earth brought from Jerusalem, which was believed to have properties that caused the corpses to mumify rapidly rapidly.

The church has three apses. Such an arrangement is also seen in Sicily at Monreale Cathedral. Sculpted corbels  are also present as  used extensively at Monreale. The earliest ones date from between 1215 to 1223 and they portray masks, headsof animals, and human figures in various contorted positions.

The dominant feature of the decorative scheme, and probably the most notable feature of the building  is the amazing  mosaic bust of Christ Patokrator (a typically Orthodox form of image which , in Western Tradition  equates to the concept of “Christ in Majesty”). This mosaic is  portrayed on the semi-dome of the main apse  with a hand raised in Bennediction. In his left hand he carries the Gospel of John. In the text it is possible  to read, in both Greek and Latin: “I am the light of the world, who follows me will not wander in the darkness but will have the light of life” (John8:12).

It is thought that the entire church was planned to be decorated in mosaic, but this was completed only in the  presbyterium area or sanctuary ( the area within which the clergy operates). Mosaic covers the  apse and about half of the side walls. Roger II brought masters in the art of mosaic construction from Constantinople. In this building they had to adapt their traditional Byzantine decorative art to an architectural structure that was of northern European origin. The resulting effect is absolutely  worth the visit.

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