Cefalù
CEFALÙ: 16 metres above sea level of the Tyrrhenian sea, at the foot of a big “Rock” - a promontory approximately 270 metres high. Surface 65,8 Km2., 14.007 Inhabitants. ZIP Code 90015. Phone dialling code 0921 Economy: tourism and related activities, tertiary sector, agriculture and fishing.
HISTORY: The ancient town, precisely being a fortress,was surrounded by powerful defence walls which can still be well recognized, in spite of the large tampering it suffered, all around the old town centre. They were the so called megalithic walls which, by integrating with the natural defence made by the Rock, protected the city on the other sides along the coast. These walls, together with the Cathedral, are the most characteristic feature of the town, and they must have served the above mentioned purpose since the very foundation of the urban centre. The original circuit, which has been largely preserved, can be fully recognized, taking into consideration the following reconstructions and some graphic evidence. The walls follow the coastline posing directly on the natural cliff and then turn towards the Rock to which they tie up in correspondence of its large natural clefts. Along the fortification were four doors: I, “Porta Terra", in Piazza Garibaldi ; II “Porta Dell'Arena" or "Porta D'Ossuna", in Piazza Cristoforo Colombo; III on the sea, towards the West, "Porta Della Marina" or "Porta Pescara"; and the last one towards the East, IV “Porta Della Giudecca".
The original structures – well recognizable in the better preserved parts in Piazza Garibaldi, along the descent Paramuro and in Via Porpora – are of those made of big blocks, not cemented with mortar, posed in regular planes, which can be dated from the end of V century B.C. In Piazza Garibaldi the lower part of a tower has been preserved, incorporated in the structures of the Church of S. Maria Della Catena, East of Porta I, the most important access to the ancient town which lead directly to the CARDO MAXIMUS.
Speaking of this, we would like to remind that it's quite meaningful the fact that even nowadays Bishops still take over the diocese of Cefalù in the church “della Catena”.
Along the descent Paramuro, in the middle of the thick vegetation inside some private gardens abundant ruins can be found, among which are two turrets.
The northern sector of the fortification, in Via Porpora, is the longest and most interesting, besides being the best preserved. Here the walls are directly posed on the cliff according to what the Arab geographer Edrisi had observed: he described Cefalù as a fortress "... built on top of cliffs adjoining the seashore".
In this tract there is the only almost entirely preserved tower: an interesting postern, covered by a monolithic architrave, through which the inhabitants of the ancient town could reach a fresh water spring which gushes at sea level.
Inside these walls – besides the numerous occasional findings, such as the mosaic pavement with Cupid riding a swan (I century B.C.) kept in the “Mandralisca” Museum – thanks to the samplings carried out in the Cathedral various ruins of walls have seen the light, and two interesting elegantly paved streets: one (cobble paved) of the Hellenistic age and the other (paved with rectangular flagstones) of the I century B.C.
These streets document not only the size of ancient Cefalù and the type of town planning scheme adopted, but also that the most ancient settlement can be dated back to the Hellenistic age (IV century B.C.). The results of the excavations carried out in the necropolis, where nearly three hundred tombs (some of them monumental) datable from IV century B.C. to I century A.D., lead to the same conclusions.
THE MEDIEVAL TOWN Little traces have been preserved of the medieval town, both because in "rebuilding" Cefalù Ruggero utilized the ancient town planning structure and because its inevitable following readaptations have compromised its integrity. The quarter which has preserved more the medieval look in its morphology is Crucidda-Francavilla, which goes from the Cathedral (North), Corso Ruggero and the Rock.
Exactly in this quarter with a peculiar structure a house-tower has been preserved, which can be seen at the end of the alley flanking the small church of the Holy Sacrament.