The Cathedral of Cefalu' is not, as with other Sicilian churches, a combination of a longitudinal and centralized floor plan. It is a straightforward Romanesque basilica with a transept, partly vaulted and partly covered with an open woodwork roof. The main difference in ground plan, compared with later Sicilian structures, lies in the treatment of the crossing. This is not a perfect square, nor is it emphasized by its height. The crossing is not conceived as the principal center of the building.

umerous churches were built in Sicily in the 12th Century under the Norman kings. Notable among them is the cathedral which rises above the coastal town of Cefalu', overlooking the Mediterranean. Begun in 1131 for the court of Ruggero II, the cathedral wasn't completed until the 15th Century. The exterior is in the Romanesque style, characteristic of Sicilian church architecture of the period, while the interior contains magnificent Byzantine mosaics, the oldest in Sicily.

A MELTING POT

Sicily, not far from North Africa, forms a natural midpoint between the eastern and western Mediterranean. Settled since prehistoric times, the island was considered a valuable vantage point by the different peoples who sought to dominate the Mediterranean. Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans occupied Sicily in succession, and all developed commercial bases there, resulting in a melting pot of different races and cultures.

At the beginning of the 6th Century AD the Byzantine Empire established a base in Sicily to achieve more direct control of the Italian peninsula. This lasted until their enemies, the Saracens, conquered the island (858 AD). The Saracens went to extraordinary lengths to establish their Muslim culture in the lands which they conquered. Traces of Muslim occupation remained long after the Saracens retreated to North Africa.

The Saracen domination of Sicily lasted for over two centuries until, in the early 11th Century, Sicily was invaded by the Normans. In the year 1130, Sicily became a Norman kingdom under King Ruggero II.

The culture of the Normans, while influenced by France, accepted the local characteristics of the time to produce an idiosyncratic mixture of styles. The clearest demonstration of this mixture is found in the religious buildings of Palermo, Monreale, and Cefalu', and their mosaics.

AN UNUSUAL KING

The Sicilian state of Ruggero was half oriental and half occidental. Although he was a Latinized Christian, he ruled with a pomp somewhere between the Byzantine and the Oriental. Ruggero, a descendent of Vikings, wrapped in the Dalmatian mantle of the Apostolic League and in the imperial costume of Byzantium, sat on a throne surrounded by ministers who were in part Greek and in part English, with an army composed half by Moors and a navy commanded by Greeks.

Ruggero demonstrated himself to be an unusually tolerant ruler capable of guiding his government under difficult conditions according to very original precepts. His tolerance actuated the most fecund symbiosis in Sicilian history, favoring an intelligent, tolerant acceptance of all the political forces active in his realm. Greeks, Arabs, Latins, Normans, and Jews were all equal before the law. The Greek-Arab cultural tradition was almost totally conserved, although it was still necessary to convert Moslems to Christianity and Greeks to the Latin Church. Ruggero avoided each and every peril in Sicily by creating a Church, Apostolic and Roman, as little dependent on Rome and as dependent on him as possible. For these reasons the Norman state of Ruggero II in Sicily was better organized than any other European government of the period. And the people truly loved him.

He wished to leave a tangible impression of of his power by constructing artistic monuments. The most imposing of these was intended to be a sepulchral monument to himself--he conceived of the Cathedral of Cefalu' as his personal mausoleum.

THE INSPIRATION

The Cathedral's history is obscured by a legend. Ruggero, returning to Sicily from one of his Italian wars, was caught in a tempest and, in danger of his life, made a vow that if he were rescued from the waves, he would build a cathedral to the Savior and the Apostles Peter and Paul at the spot were he reached land. The Saints Peter and Paul were, in the popular cult of Mediterranean, the successors of the Dioscuri as saviors from the perils of the sea. They were, in addition, the patron saints of the young Norman kingdom, appropriated from southern Italy.

According to documentary evidence the foundation stone of the church was laid by Ruggero on June 7, 1131.

THE CATHEDRAL

The phenomenon of cultural syncretism in Sicily is most accentuated in the architecture of Norman Sicily. Latin basilica-type buildings are capped by Greek cupolas and decorated on the interior by sumptuous Byzantine mosaics. Arab craftsmen designed the decor of the church, choosing subjects drawn from esoteric themes in Persian mythology. Greek artisans trained native Sicilians in the art of mosaic while French masons mixed the style of Provence with that of the Saracens.

The building as it stands today is clearly not the result of a consistent plan, carried out faithfully within a short period. There is evidence, for example, that the original program did not include vaults and that these were not added until the latter half of the 12th Century. Apart from structural and stylistic differences, there is an inconsistency in the spacing of the windows in the two stories of the presbytery, which shows clearly that the vaulting must have been an afterthought. But, the most convincing argument for a later dating of the vaults is furnished by the mosaics.

All the mosaic figures on the walls are dependent on half columns, both real and virtual, none of which correspond to the spacing of the present vaults. There can be only one explanation for this peculiar spacing: the columns were already there or, at least, were taken into consideration when the mosaics were set, and this means that the vaults must not have been extant or, at least, under construction, at the date the mosaics were executed.

Thus it seems that Ruggero began the erection of the cathedral in 1131 as a flat-roofed building without any thought of vaulting. A change of plan brought about, perhaps, through Anglo-Norman influence, introduced the vaults in the presbytery.

In 1148, the eastern part of the church was finished up to the crossing, the rest was laid out and carried to a certain height. Work was taken up again soon after Ruggero's death in 1154 by his son and successor William I.

The entire western part remained unfinished up to the time of William II, when the present nave and the aisles were completed according to a new, reduced plan between 1180 and 1200. The 13th century had no part in the building, but only in its restoration and in adding decorative touches. The complicated situation which prevailed in Cefalu' between 1139 and 1166 was probably the reason why the building was not carried out more splendidly in one effort and it may likewise explain the fact that the mosaic decoration was not executed on a grander scale and within a shorter period than it actually was. The final consecration of the cathedral took place in 1267.

To find out about the mosaic decorations click on "More Cefalu" below.

The city of the promontory, as Cefalu' is called, derives its name from the ancient Cephaloedium (from the Greek Kefale, which means head). The name is suggested by the profile of the escarpment, Monte Kafè, rising behind the cathedral. The remains of archaic fortifications and the so-called temple of Diana at the mountain's summit are the most evident remains of a prehistoric Hellenic settlement. In 307 BCE Syracuse seized and held the city until the Roman conquest of Sicily in 254 BCE.

The vaulted parts of the church are heavily buttressed on the outside. The present wooden roof of the nave is lower than was originally executed. The arch which was meant to connect it with the crossing is higher than the present roof of the nave and is walled up on the outside.

The perfect insertion of the larger monument amongst its diminutive neighbors is surprising when seen from the rock. Little contrast is noticeable, yet the simple architecture of the surrounding houses exalts the magisterial beauty of the cathedral.

Typically Sicilian features are the columns set into angles in the eastern part of the church and the exterior decoration of the main apse and the transepts with intersecting arches. There is an inner gallery running around the top of the transepts. The aisles of the nave are divided by an arcade of stilted "Saracenic" arches on classical capitals.

The western façade and narthex (porch) weren't finished until the 15th Century. The massive towers which flank the facade have been called Norman, but have parallels in southern Italy. The decoration of the facade is Suabian. The façade of the cathedral and its wide courtyard are portrayed here in a popular 19th Century lithograph.

The cloister of Cefalu' can be dated to 1160-70 and is the first Sicilian example of its kind. Accessed from inside the cathedral through a door near the belfry, the cloister is made up of binal columns surmounted by pointed arches.

Sharp contrasts to the Norman models are found in the Paleo-Christian carvings in the capitals. The columns are also more slender than their Provençal counterparts and, of course, the arches are pointed. At Cefalu', the artisans knew well how to conserve their glorious uniqueness.

All photos ©Roger Shepherd