Among all the wonderful places to visit and monuments to see in Cefalu, you can’t miss the Duomo of Cefalu. As it is known, this cathedral has taken part of UNESCO World Heritage since 2015 thanks to its historical relevance. Many tourists who rent a holiday villa with pool in Cefalu in our village, the first thing they do is going to visit it.
Its structure is particular because it is not similar to a cathedral or a church but more similar to a fortress. For these reason, in fact, some historians say the first idea to build it was not for a Christian building but for political and military reason. The works began during the Middle Age, in 1131 , it was consacrated as a church in 1267 and between these years the cathedral was enriched with many artistic elements featuring it in two architectural styles: Byzantyne and Arab-Norman styles.
We can observe the norman style in the two towers that are one different from the other, simbolyzing one the church power and the other one the kingdom power. The front porch dates back to the XV century, in fact it was built after two hundred years from the beginning of its construction. Under it there is the Porta Regum, the main door of the cathedral embellished with marble and wonderful painting on the side.
The interior of the cathedral is a Latin cross plan and inside we can find many masterpieces of the medieval artistic finds in Sicily. The cloister is full of medieval elements that are considered some of the best in Europe; the presbyter is featured by a wonderful Byzantine mosaic where a Pantocrator Christ mosaic makes itself the protagonist.
Cefalu Duomo’ s interior
The Duomo of Cefalu owns many other masterpieces by some artists like Antonello Gagini, Guglielmo da Pesaro, Leonardo Pennino.
Eventually, if you are in Cefalu is impossible to avoid to visit its Duomo. During winter and autumn, the Duomo is open to public from monday to saturday from h 8,30 to h 13,30; during spring and summer it is open all days from h 8,30 to 18,30.
Top image: Cefalu’s Duomo; Source: Wikipedia; Credits to: Berthold Werner.