summertime goes south

8th Sept-Palermo to Cefalu
After a month at home, we spent a couple of nights in a hotel in Palermo before resuming our voyage.
On my second visit, I was able to look beyond the obvious shortcomings of Palermo and see a city with a rich heritage and some outstanding buildings. There is much left to discover and I am sure a more leisurely visit would reveal hidden gems, away from the obvious but still impressive tourist attractions. But it is time to leave.
We planned a short trip eastwards for our first day but our destination port was full, so we pressed on to Cefalu. The weather is forecast to become very windy for up to 3 days from Sunday, so we wanted a sheltered harbour which Cefalu offers.
The wind duly arrived and in addition Sunday night we had an enormous thunderstorm, the full works which seemed to last for hours and I do not recall such concentrated lightning. The shore power supply was put out of action but the marina staff jury-rigged a replacement supply. Health and Safety eat your heart out!
Cefalu is a lovely town on a conspicuous promontory. It is built on a rocky ledge around the base of a volcanic plug, surrounded on three side by water. It is a popular tourist destination but now it is September the crowds have thinned, leaving a lively atmosphere without overcrowding. The original fishing village retains its medieval character with narrow streets and alleys, the newer developments on the fringes do not detract from the ambience.
The village must have been very small in the 12th century but this did not deter King Roger II from building a huge cathedral, widely regarded as one of the finest and best preserved examples of Norman architecture anywhere. It is a truly impressive building, begun in the 1130's. A statement of Norman power on an island they conquered in the 12th century.
The apse contains a Byzantine mosaic depicting Christ Pantokrator, (a common representation in Byzantine and Catholic iconography). To quote John Julius Norwich,
"for many, the greatest portrait of Christ in all Christian art"; quite a claim. It dominates the vast interior of the cathedral and is recognised a true masterpiece of medieval art.
Putting my nerdy hat on, I have dug a little deeper into the concept of Christ Pantokrator (a new idea to me) and the Norman rule of Sicily.
Depictions of Christ Pantokrator do not document events described in the Gospels, rather show Christ as the omnipotent guide and redeemer for us mere mortals. The Cefalu depiction shows the head and shoulders of Christ holding text from St John's Gospel, "I am the light of the world....". The huge, predominately gold, mosaic positioned high above the altar, even after 900 years still literally shines his light on the congregation. Even a confirmed atheist cannot but be impressed at this consummate PR.
The Cefalu Cathedral continues to demonstrate the combination of western, Byzantine and Arabic architectural styles and language, shown in the Medieval buildings of Palermo. I consulted John Julius Norwich's short history of Sicily to find clues to why this unique combination should have flourished in Sicily but is not found elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
He ascribes it largely to the enlightened rule of King Roger II. It took 31 years for the Normans to complete the conquest of Sicily. When Roger was crowned King Roger II in 1130, he was canny enough to harness the population in his support. There were sizeable Greek, Muslim and Christian populations which Roger, rather than persecuting sought to accommodate to the new order. He practised religious toleration, allowing mosques, encouraging Greek Orthodox worship whilst harnessing the talents of Greeks, known for their seamanship, in Sicilian ships and the mathematical skills of the Arabs in finance and administration. He actively encouraged scholars and intellectuals to come and work in Sicily, to undertake secular research (actively discouraged by the Catholic Church). Roger was a formidable intellectual himself and actively participated in the debates and controversies of the scholars. The cosmopolitan ethos was reflected in the buildings he commissioned including his own palace in Palermo. This blending of western, Byzantine and Arab architectural styles was a deliberate act of will by Roger II, a tangible expression of his political objectives.
This is even more remarkable when seen against events elsewhere. The Crusades were underway and the Spanish were in the process of expelling Muslims from Spain. This fracture in relations between Christians and Muslims was not reflected in Sicily which became the crossroads between three continents. Unfortunately this state of affairs did not survive long after his death in 1154. As J. J. Norwich says 'the court of King Roger...was by far the most brilliant of twelfth-century Europe'. The architectural record is perhaps his most brilliant legacy.