Italy Guide
Sicily
Cefalù
Despite being one of Sicily's busiest international beach resorts, CEFALÙ remains a fairly small-scale fishing port, tucked onto every available inch of a shelf of land beneath a fearsome crag, La Rocca. Roger II founded a mighty cathedral here in 1131 and his church dominates the skyline, the great twin towers of the facade rearing up above the flat roofs of the medieval quarter. Naturally, the fine curving sands are the major attraction but Cefalù is a pleasant town, and nothing like as developed as Sicily's other package resort of Taormina.
Halfway along Corso Ruggero, the main pedestrianized road through the old town, stands the Duomo (daily: summer 8am–7pm; winter 8am–5.30pm; free) built – partly at least – as Roger's gratitude for fetching up at Cefalù's safe beach in a violent storm. Inside, covering the apse and presbytery, are the earliest and best preserved of the church mosaics in Sicily, dating from 1148. Forty years earlier than those in the cathedral at Monreale, they are thoroughly Byzantine in concept. In high season, when Cefalù's tangibly Arabic central grid of streets is crowded with tourists, you'd do best to visit the cathedral early in the morning, before succumbing to the lure of the long sandy beach beyond the harbour. There are a couple of other places also worth venturing to: the Museo Mandralisca (daily 9am–7pm; €5), at Via Mandralisca 13 (across from Piazza Duomo), has a wry Portrait of an Unknown Man by Antonello da Messina, and a huge shell collection; and La Rocca (daily 8am–8pm; €3.50), which holds the megalithic Tempio di Diana, from where paths continue right around the crag, inside medieval walls, to the sketchy fortifications at the very top.