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Visit Cefalu
Cefalu is a leading Sicilian seaside resort, and one of the major centers of art, culture and history. It also has daily connections with the Aeolian Islands. combined these factors make cefalu a very popular destination in Sicily.
Cefalu Cathedral: Away from the coast and in the historical part of the town it is the cathedral that is the most important attraction in Cefalu - see Cefalu Cathedral article for details of this important 12th century Arab-Norman monument
Besides the Cathedral, Cefalù boasts other religious buildings of great artistic value, such as the 18th century “Madonna della Catena”, built in yellow tuff and characterized by a lodge formed of a large round arch supported by two pairs of columns with Ionic capitals. At the center of the façade, between two pairs of windows is a niche with a statue of the Madonna. From the loggia, via a few steps, we reach the portal that gives access to the church; it has a nave without apse and transept. Inside there is a statue of St. Espedito. To the left is a votive dedicated to San Rocco, the patron saint of the city.
We mention also the Church of SS. Trinity, divided into three naves by two rows of columns topped by arches. The Central apse is flanked by two side apses. The façade has a portal decorated with floral motifs, swags and heads of angels. No less interesting is the Church of Santo Stefano, of Baroque style. We enter the church via a double flight of stairs. The portal is decorated with baroque figures of souls in purgatory between spirals, frames and masks. The left tower, culminating in a spire serves as a bell. The interior of the church, with a rectangular shape, is divided into three naves by two rows of monolithic columns. On the altar of the nave stands an impressive painting of the early nineteenth century depicting “Christ that gives the Eucharist to the penitent souls. "
We conclude our tour of the religious buildings of Cefalu with the Church of St. George (now St Leonard), dating from the time of Roger II. Of the original church very little remains, only a large portal, which was probably the main entrance to the church, consisting of a pointed arch; in the lower area there are some columns and capitals with floral motifs. Of great scenic effect are the two superimposed galleries, decorated with floral and landscape scenes.
Among the civil buildings, the so-called "Osterio Magno" is very important, and presumed to have been the residence of Roger II. It is also known as the "Domus Regia" - just the tower remains, of rectangular shape and dating back to the Norman period.
In the Mandralisca Museum, the archaeological section is very extensive and the exhibits come from excavations in the area near Cefalu and the Aeolian Islands. Note in particular a late Hellenistic mosaic, and the famous "Tagliatore di tonno" of the fourth century BC. There is also the important numismatic collection featuring Greek and Roman coins. Another very important section of the museum is linked to nature, with the presence of many fossil shells.
As we said at the beginning, in addition to being an art city, Cefalù is also an important and famous seaside resort. As well beaches, art treasures and landscapes visitors can also enjoy traditional Sicilian cuisine. As a priority, try the “‘Arancine’ with the meat,” “The ‘Frittedda’” (a dish made of vegetables), “The ‘Sfincione’” (stuffed bread), and among the specialties of a coastal village, the so-called “‘Beccafico’ Sardines.”
Places of interest close to Cefalu
Near Cefalù there are several monuments worthy of particular note. Very important is the Sanctuary of Gibilmanna (from the Arabic “Gibel el mann”), dedicated to SS. Virgin and surrounded by lush vegetation. The church has a large porch of Gothic style, with bell towers with pyramidal spires recalling the Cathedral. Inside, there is a Statue of "Mary and the Child,"attributed to Antonello Gagini. In the eighteenth century, the Chapel of Our Lady was enriched with a magnificent Baroque altar, the work of Baldassarre Pampillonia (18th century), assigned for the Cathedral, on which is settled a marble frontal.
On the rock overlooking Cefalù there is a very old building, known as the Temple of Diana. It is composed of boulders stacked without any mortar. It is a prehistoric megalithic shrine, a construction presumably dating from the ninth century BC, on which another building was constructed during the Greek Age (fifth century BC), itself later transformed into a Byzantine church. Adjacent to the shrine is a tank covered with slabs, stone circles, and all surrounded by a ring of medieval walls. The function of this "Temple of Diana" has always been considered a mystery: among the most convincing hypothesis there is the argument that it was “a sacred spring, which was installed on a primitive indigenous worship of water, which then became a shrine in the fifth century BC” (“Nuova Antologia”, 1930, Vol. 352: 387). (The prehistoric aspects remind us of the megalithic walls of the North front of the Old Town of Cefalù, so called because of their structure, consisting of superimposed huge stone blocks.)
See also Cefalu history and etymology.