Duomo di Cefalù / Cathedral at Cefalù (Sicily, Italy)
N 38° 02.400 E 014° 01.383
33S E 414272 N 4210703
If you will visit Cefalù, do not miss jewel of this beautiful ancient town - the Cathedral, which is one of the most interesting medieval buildings in Sicily...
Waymark Code: WM6E04
Location: Sicilia, Italy
Date Posted: 05/19/2009
Views: 19
Legend tells that Roger II, the well-known medieval Norman sovereign of Sicily, in gratitude to God for sparing his life in a violent storm at sea, commissioned the building of a grand Cathedral at Cefalù, where he landed after the tempest...
Its characteristics, as well as its position, so close to the sea, make it something of a fortress from the outside as much as it is a church on the inside.
In fact, the religious situation at the time if Roger II's reign in Sicily was a fascinating mix of Arab Muslims and Catholics. At the time of his reign there was no Cathedral in the little town, Roger II took the opportunity of impressing the inhabitants who had been deeply influenced by Arab invasions and by Islam. The Cathedral should be a symbol of the triumphant Christianity.
The Cathedral was built in an area of ancient and continuing population, as attested by the findings of a Roman road and a Palaeo-Christian mosaic. Construction began in 1131, the apse mosaics begun in 1145 and the sarcophagi that Roger II provided for his tomb and that of his wife were put in place the same year. After 1172, the church suffered a period of decline and in 1215, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen moved the two sarcophagi to the Cathedral of Palermo. Construction of the cathedral was resumed soon after, the façade being completed in 1240. The Cathedral was consecrated in 1267 by Rodolphe de Chevriêres, Bishop of Albano. In 1472 a portico, by Ambrogio da Como, was added between the two towers of the facade.