The Patrons
Santissimo Salvatore and Immacolata
The Santissimo Salvatore and Immacolata Concezione are the patrons, with feast dates of 6 August and 8 December respectively. The August celebration includes the local 'ntinna a mari tradition.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Palermo,
Sicilia
A Norman cathedral town with a district and diocese of its own.
Cefalù sits beneath an enormous rock on the Tyrrhenian coast east of Palermo, gathered around one of the great Norman cathedrals of Sicily — built by Roger II from 1131 and holding a Christ Pantocrator in mosaic that rivals anything in Europe.
For research the important facts are administrative: Cefalù was a district seat under the Bourbons, and it is a diocese in its own right — not part of Palermo's.
The District
Cefalù district
Cefalù was one of the four Bourbon district seats of the Valle di Palermo. District-level records for the eastern coast and parts of the Madonie may therefore be filed under Cefalù even when the family lived elsewhere.
The Landmark
Duomo di Cefalù
The Duomo di Cefalù is both a major Norman monument and the centre of an independent diocese. Parish research for the town and much of the Madonie belongs to Cefalù's ecclesiastical jurisdiction, not Palermo's.
Did you know?
DISTRICT AND DIOCESE ARE BOTH LOCAL
Do not default to Palermo
Cefalù belongs to Palermo province but historically had its own Bourbon district and still has its own diocese. District administration and parish records may therefore be filed under Cefalù rather than the provincial capital.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Sicilian is widely represented in local speech and culture.
Cefalù is more than a Palermo comune
The Greek town of Kephaloidion took its name from the headland — the kefalè , the head — and the medieval town grew at its foot. On the summit above stands the Tempio di Diana , a megalithic structure of uncertain date, and the ruins of the Byzantine and Arab settlement that preceded the modern town.
What made Cefalù is the cathedral . Roger II founded it in 1131 , according to tradition in fulfilment of a vow after surviving a storm, and intended it as his own burial place. Its twin towers, its Norman-Arab-Byzantine fabric and its mosaic Pantocrator make it one of the most important buildings in Sicily; it is UNESCO-listed with the Arab-Norman monuments of Palermo and Monreale.
With the cathedral came the diocese , whose territory reached inland over the Madonie mountains — which is why a village far from the sea may be in Cefalù's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Under the Bourbons the town was a district seat of the Valle di Palermo. Its economy was fishing and the sea, with the mountain towns behind living by grain, pasture and forest. Tourism came only in the twentieth century, and the old town has changed less than the coast around it.
Postcards from Cefalù
Wear Cefalù
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Palermo.
SHOP THE COLLECTION →
Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI PALERMO
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Palermo and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE PALERMO →REGIONE SICILIA
From the mountains to the sea, Sicilia is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE SICILIA →From the passenger index
At least 3,855 people who gave Cefalù as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
Under the rock
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Palermo Falcone Borsellino Airport.
Cefalù is the most visited town on this coast, and in summer it is crowded — but the old town beneath the rock remains genuinely medieval in plan, and the cathedral is extraordinary at any time of year.
For a descendant the town is straightforward. The essential move is inland : if your family were of the district or diocese rather than the town, the Madonie villages are half an hour to an hour up into the mountains, and they are a different Sicily altogether — high, cold in winter, and emptied by emigration.
Palermo is an hour west by road or rail.
What to see
The Duomo — Roger II's cathedral and its Pantocrator mosaic.
The medieval lavatoio — the old washing place, cut down to the water.
La Rocca — the climb to the Tempio di Diana and the ruins above the town.
The old harbour — the fishing quarter beneath the cathedral.
The Madonie — Castelbuono, Petralia, Gangi and the mountain comuni of the district.
Your family's parish — and note the diocese is Cefalù's, not Palermo's.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Browse the Palermo civil registers on Antenati
Cefalù is in Palermo province. Note that it was a Bourbon district seat in its own right, so district-level material may be filed under Cefalù rather than Palermo.
antenati.cultura.gov.itWhy Sicilian records begin in 1820
Before that date there is no civil register to find — use parish books or the riveli.
antenati.cultura.gov.itRelated places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Cefalù is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →