ARCHITECT, Italian
(active 1131-1240 in Sicily)

View from the nave

1131-1240
Photo
Cathedral, Cefalù (Sicilia)

The Norman arrived in Sicily from France in 1061, and won control over the island over the next thirty years. They engaged in building campaigns to establish their presence in each region in stone. Roger II planned and began the construction of the cathedral to house the tombs of the Norman kings of Sicily in 1131. The transept and sanctuary date from Roger's time, but his successors completed the nave and façade, between 1180 and 1240, on a more modest scale. The difference between the original and completed version of the complex is evident at the side view, where the scale drops dramatically past the interlaced arches of the apse, side chapels and transept.

View the ground plan of Cefalù Cathedral.