Cefalu Duomo

Begun in 1131 by the Norman king Roger II and not completed until 1240, the Duomo of Cefalù was intended as the principal religious seat in Sicily. Though it failed to fulfill this function, it is still a magnificent building.

The Duomo's splended Norman-Byzantine mosaics (1148), which feature a huge image of Christ Pantocrator in the apse, are remarkable. Since this was a Norman church, Christ is depicted as a blond; but his nose and mouth look Greek, his brows and beard black like a Saracen's.