Cefalù Cathedral, by PiETRO RIPARBELLI

Cefalù Cathedral

by PiETRO RIPARBELLI

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1.	Indoor 02:18	download
2.	Coming out 03:42	download
3.	Outdoor 05:02	download

about

The Cathedral-Basilica of Cefalù, (Italian: Duomo di Cefalù) is a Roman Catholic church in Cefalù, Sicily, Italy.
The cathedral, dating from 1131, was commenced in the Norman style, the island of Sicily having been conquered by the Normans in 1091. According to tradition, the building was erected after a vow made to the Holy Saviour by the King of Sicily, Roger II, after he escaped from a storm to land on the city's beach. The fortress-like character of the building, which, seen from a distance, rises as a huge bulk above its medieval town, may in part reflect the vulnerability of the site to attack from the sea. It also made a powerful statement of the Norman presence.
Numerous changes were made over succeeding centuries and the edifice was never entirely completed.
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.