Everything about Cefal totally explained
Cefalù (
Sicilian:
Cifalù,
Greek: Κεφαλοίδιον,
Diod.,
Strabo, or Κεφαλοιδὶς,
Ptol.;
Latin:
Cephaloedium, or
Cephaloedis,
Pliny) is a
city and
comune in the
province of
Palermo, located on the northern coast of
Sicily,
Italy on the
Tyrrhenian Sea about 75 km
east from the provincial capital and 185 km west of
Messina. The town is one of the major
tourist attractions in the region.
History
Of
Greek foundation, the city evidently derived its name from its situation on a lofty and precipitous rock, forming a bold headland (Κεφαλὴ) projecting into the sea. But though its name proves it to have been of Greek origin, no mention is found of it in
Thucydides, who expressly says that
Himera was the only Greek colony on this coast of the island (vi. 62); it's probable that Cephaloedium was at this time merely a fortress (φρούριον) belonging to the Himeraeans, and may very likely have been first peopled by refugees after the destruction of Himera. Its name first appears in history at the time of the
Carthaginian expedition under
Himilco,
396 BC, when that general concluded a treaty with the Himeraeans and the inhabitants of Cephaloedium. (Diod. xiv. 56.) But after the defeat of the Carthaginian armament,
Dionysius the Elder made himself master of Cephaloedium, which was betrayed into his hands. (
Ibid. 78.) At a later period we find it again independent, but apparently on friendly terms with the Carthaginians, on which account it was attacked and taken by
Agathocles,
307 BC. (
Id. xx. 56.) In the
First Punic War it was reduced by the Roman fleet under
Atilius Calatinus and
Scipio Nasica,
254 BC, but by treachery and not by force of arms. (
Id. xxiii., Exc. Hoesch. p. 505.)
Cicero speaks of it as apparently a flourishing town, enjoying full
municipal privileges; it was, in his time, one of the
civitates decumanae which paid the tithes of their corn in kind to the
Roman state, and suffered severely from the oppressions and exactions of
Verres. (Cic.
Verr. ii. 5. 2, iii. 43.) It also minted coins. No subsequent mention of it's found in history, but it's noticed by the geographers
Strabo,
Pliny, and
Ptolemy, among the towns of Sicily, and at a later period its name is still found in the Itineraries. (Strab. vi. p. 266; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 3;
Itin. Ant. p. 92;
Tab. Peut.).
During the
Byzantine domination the settlement was moved from the plain to the current spur, although the old town was never entirely abandoned. In
858, after a long siege, it was conquered by the
Arabs, and rechristened
Gafludi. For the following centuries it was part of the
Emirate of Sicily.
In
1063 the
Normans captured it and in
1131,
Roger II, king of Sicily, transferred it from its almost inaccessible position to one at the foot of the rock, where there was a small but excellent harbor, and began construction of the present cathedral. Between the 13th century and 1451 it was under different feudal families, and then it became a possession of the Bishops of Cefalù.
During the
Risorgimento, the patriot
Salvatore Spinuzza was shot here in
1857. Cefalù
became part of the
Kingdom of Italy in
1861.
Main sights
The Cathedral
The Cathedral, begun in 1131, in a style of
Norman architecture which would be more accurately called Sicilian
Romanesque. The exterior is well preserved, and is largely decorated with interlacing pointed arches; the windows also are pointed. On each side of the façade is a massive
tower of four storeys. The round-headed Norman portal is worthy of note. A semi-circular
apse is set into the east end wall. Its strengthening counterforts that work like buttresses, are shaped as paired columns to lighten their aspect. The groined vaulting of the roof is visible in the choir and the right
transept, while the rest of the church has a wooden roof. Fine cloisters, coeval with the cathedral, adjoin it.
The interior of the cathedral was restored in 1559, though the pointed arches of the nave, borne by ancient
granite columns, are still visible: and the only
mosaics preserved are those of the apse and the last bay of the choir: they're remarkably fine specimens of the
Byzantine art of the period (1148) and, though restored in 1859-1862, have suffered much less than those at
Palermo and
Monreale from the process. The figure of the
Pantocrator gracing the apse .
Other churches
- Santa Maria dell'Odigitria, popularly referred to simply as Itria. Probably built in the 16th century, Until 1961 it consisted of two different religious edifices, the second being a chapel devoted to St. Michael Archangel; both were a property of the Confraternity of St. Mary of the Odigitria.
- Santa Oliva (1787). It has a tuff portal.
- San Sebastiano (probably 1523). It has a single nave with two frescoed niches on every side.
- Sant'Andrea
- San Leonardo, mentioned from 1159 and, until the restoration of 1558, entitled to St. George. The original portal, now closed b a wall, has vegetable decorations similar to the Cathedral's ones.
- The Immacolatella (1661)
- The Oratory of the Santissimo Sacramento (1688)
- Chapel of San Biagio (St. Blaise)
- Santo Stefano or Church of Purgatory
- Santissima Trinità
- Santissima Annunziata (c. 1511). The façade has a large rose window and a relief with the Annunciation.
- The Monastery of St. Catherine
Others
Some remains of the ancient city are still visible, on the summit of the rock; but the nature of the site proves that it could never have been more than a small town, and probably owed its importance only to its almost impregnable position.
Fazello speaks of the remains of the walls as still existing in his time, as well as those of a temple of
Doric architecture, of which the foundations only are now visible. But the most curious monument still remaining of the ancient city is an edifice, consisting of various apartments, and having the appearance of a palace or domestic residence, but constructed wholly of large irregular blocks of limestone, in the style commonly called
polygonal or
Cyclopean. Rude mouldings approximating to those of the Doric order, are hewn on the face of the massive blocks. The doorways are of finely-cut stone, and of Greek type, and the date, though uncertain, cannot, from the careful jointing of the blocks, be very early. This building, which is almost unique of its kind, is the more remarkable, from its being the only example of this style of masonry, so common in Central Italy, which occurs in the island of Sicily. It is fully described and figured by Dr. Nott in the
Annali dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica, for the year 1831 (vol. iii. p. 270-87).
On the summit of the promontory are extensive remains of a
Saracenic
castle. The town's fortifications formerly extended to the shore, on the side where the modern town now is, in the form of two long walls protecting the port. There are remains of a wall of massive rectangular blocks of stone at the modern
Porta Garibaldi on the south.
Other sights include:
The Seminary and the Bishops Palace
Palazzo Atenasio Martino (15th century). The court has 16th century frescoes.
Palazzo Maria (13th century). The medieval portal and a mullioned window, with Catalan-style vegetable decorations, are still visible.
Palazzo Piraino (16th century).
Osterio Magno. According to the tradition, it was built by Roger II as his mansion, but it probably dates from the 14th century. Traces of the medieval tower and decoration can be seen. Excavations held in the interior have showed the presence of ancient edifices and ceramics.
Ancient Roman baths
The remains of the Abbey of Thelema, established by the occultist Aleister Crowley in 1920 as a magical commune before he was ordered to leave by the Mussolini government in 1923. The abbey is now in a state of severe disrepair.
Not far from the town is the sanctuary of Gibilmanna.
Further Information
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