Cefalù

Hotel Baia del Capitano ***

The name of this small town, Cefalù, may come either from the Greek Kephaloidion, or from the Punic Kefa and is connected with the shape of the Rocca (a little head), the promontory, which towers above the town. The name, however, could just as well refer to the geographic, configuration of Cefalu' itself.

There are only scanty concerning the origins of Cefalu'. It must have been a fortified outpost, almost certainly Greek at the end of the fifth century B.C. lying, at the foot of the "Rocca", today  historic center of Cefalu'. ated. The area is still girded by megalithic walls, of which a good part are the original ones.
The Hellenistic-Roman Cefalù is recognisable not only in the megalithic walls located on the coast, along the Paramuro descent and in Piazza Garibaldi; also in the present lay-out of the town, and in several interesting archaeological sites (two ancient streets and a vast necropolis) which recent archaeological researches have brought to light.

On the Rocca  visit  the famous megalithic structure known as the "Temple of Diana" dating  back to the end of the fifth or the beginning of the fourth century B.C.. It was originally a place of worship for the cult of the sea and along with two caves on the east side of the Rocca it is a further evidence of the human settlement in the region before the establishment of the town on the coast.

During the Byzantine period, the town, like many others along the coast, was moved for security reasons on the Rocca, where the remains of the early Middle Ages are still visible. In 858 Cefalù was conquered by the Arabs and annexed to the emirate of Palermo. It was liberated afterwards by the Normans when Count Roger took over in 1063. Roger II rebuilt the town on the coast (1131). To this period belong the renowned monuments which gave Cefalu' the title of the "Norman town": the Church of St. George and the wash-house, the Cathedral, the Cloister, the Palazzo Maria and the Osterio Magno in Ruggero avenue.

The most important monument is certainly the Norman-Arab Cathedral. The mosaics of the apsidal basin showing the Pantocratore are particularly interesting. Next to the Cathedral there is the important Cloister embellished with small twin columns surmounted by remarkable sculptured capitals.

A stay in Cefalù is not complete without a stop at the Mandralisca Museum, which contains a valuable archaeological collection, a little picture gallery with two masterpieces : the ”portrait of the unknown” by Antonello da Messina and the malacologistical section.  Do not miss an excursion to the Sanctuary of Gibilmanna, located at 15km from Cefalù.