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CEFALU (anc. Cephaloedium)

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 596 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CEFALU (anc. Cephaloedium) , a seaport and episcopal see of the See also:province of See also:Palermo, See also:Sicily, 42 M. E. of Palermo by See also:rail. Pop. (1901) 13,273. The See also:ancient See also:town (of Sicel origin, probably, despite its See also:Greek name) takes its name from the headland (ice4aXij, See also:head) upon which it stood (1233 ft.); its fortifications extended to the See also:shore, on the See also:side where the See also:modern town now is, in the See also:form of two See also:long walls protecting the See also:port. There are remains of a See also:wall of massive rectangular blocks of See also:stone at the modern Porta See also:Garibaldi on the See also:south. It does not appear in See also:history before 396 B.C., and seems to have owed its importance mainly to its naturally strong position. The only ancient remains on the See also:mountain are those of a small See also:building in See also:good polygonal See also:work (a See also:style of construction very rare in Sicily), consisting of a passage on each side of which a chamber opens. The doorways are of finely-cut stone, and of Greek type, and the date, though uncertain, cannot, from the careful jointing of the blocks, be very See also:early. On the See also:summit of the promontory are extensive remains of a Saracenic See also:castle. The new town was founded at the See also:foot of the mountain, by the shore, by See also:Roger II. in 1131, and the See also:cathedral was begun in the same See also:year.

The exterior is well preserved, and is largely decorated with interlacing pointed See also:

arches; the windows also are pointed. On each side of the See also:facade is a massive See also:tower of four storeys. The See also:round-headed See also:Norman portal is worthy of See also:note. The interior was restored in 1559, though the pointed arches of the See also:nave, See also:borne by ancient See also:granite columns, are still visible: and the only mosaics preserved are those of the See also:apse and the last See also:bay of the See also:choir: they are remarkably See also:fine specimens of the See also:art of the See also:period (1148) and, though restored in 1859-1862, have suffered much less than those at Palermo and See also:Monreale from the See also:process. The figure of the Saviour is especially fine. Thegroinedvaulting of the roof is visible in the choir and the right See also:transept, while. the See also:rest of the See also:church has a wooden roof. Fine cloisters, coeval with the cathedral, adjoin it. (See G. Hubbard in See also:Journal of the R.I.B.A. xv. 333 sqq., 1908.) The See also:harbour is comparatively small. (T. As.) CEHEGfIN, a town of south-eastern See also:Spain, in the province of See also:Murcia, on the right See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Caravaca, a small tributary of the See also:Segura.

Pop. (1900) 11,6o1. Cehegin has a thriving See also:

trade in See also:farm produce, especially See also:wine, See also:olive oil and See also:hemp; and various kinds of See also:marble are obtained from quarries near the town. Some of the older houses, however, as well as the See also:parish church and the See also:convent of See also:San Francisco, which still has well-defined See also:Roman See also:inscriptions on its walls, are built of stone from the ruins of Begastri, a Roman See also:colony which stood on a small adjacent See also:hill known as the Cabecico de Roenas. The name Cehegin is sometimes connected by See also:Spanish antiquaries with that of the See also:Zenaga, Senhaja or Senajeh, a See also:North See also:African tribe, which invaded Spain in the 11th See also:century.

End of Article: CEFALU (anc. Cephaloedium)

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