William II of Sicily began the cathedral. A legend says he founded it after a dream, but the article says it was more likely part of a building rivalry with the bishop of Palermo. Work started in 1172 according to the infobox or 1174 according to the text, and Pope Alexander III approved it by a bull on December 30, 1174. The works, including the abbey, finished in 1267, when Pope Clement IV attended the consecration. The article names no architect.
The plan follows Cluniac models from northern France. Mosaics in Byzantine style cover about 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²), made between the late 12th and mid-13th centuries by local and Venetian masters. The church is 335 feet (102 m) long and 131 feet (40 m) wide.
The cloister, finished around 1200, has 216 paired columns, each capital carved differently. Barisano da Trani made the bronze doors in 1179. UNESCO listed it in 2015.
Comments