Founded towards the end of the 11th century by Bishop Gerlando, this Norman-Gothic style Agrigento Cathedral was enlarged and remodelled several times as of the 14th and up till the 17th century, only preserving, of the original structure, its magnificent mullioned windows still visible on the right side. Its facade is accessed by a wide, easy staircase, flanked by the magnificent, unfinished 15th century belltower embellished by two sequences of blind, Gothic-Catalan mullioned windows and a window with a balcony surmounted by a beautiful, richly decorated pointed arch.
The interior, shaped like a Latin cross, has three naves divided by pointed arches standing on octagonal pillars, a magnificent, richly painted, wooden ceiling, portraying the two-headed eagle of Charles V and rich stuccoes and frescos giving the whole environment a certain sumptuousness. A small chapel of San Gerlando opens off to the right of the transept, surmounted by a finely modelled Gothic portal, and holds the Arc, a 1639 relic. We would like to point out the Chapel De Marinis in the left hand nave. In the right apse, a 1495 marble group of the Madonna with Child and several other grave monuments enriching this great monument’s magnificent interior.
Of outstanding importance the Cathedral Treasure, particularly rich in works of great historical and artistic value, including the famous sarcophagus of Phaedra, a stupendous, elegant, marble, Roman work of the 3rd century AD. inspired by the 5th century Greek style. Described and praised by all the great foreign travellers to Sicily in the 18th century, from Riedesel to Bartels, this masterpiece (currently kept in the Church of San Nicola) found in the Roman necropolis of Agrigentum, portrays some episodes from the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus. Opposite the cathedral, in the same square, the Episcopal Seminary, founded by Bishop Narullo in 1574 and completed in 1611. Its interior includes a wide, elegant porticoed atrium with two sequences of loggias.
References:Kakesbeck is one of the largest medieval fortifications in Münsterland and the oldest castle in Lüdinghausen. The imposingly grown complex originated in 1120 as a motte, a small hilltop tower castle. After numerous changes of ownership, the castle was extended onto two islands, but it was not until the 14th century that it underwent significant alterations and extensions under the von Oer family. The estate experienced its heyday in the middle of the 18th century, when it covered an area of almost one square kilometre and consisted of five further outer castles in addition to the core castle, which were secured by ramparts and moats.
The well-maintained condition of the castle today is thanks to the late Wilfried Grewing, the former lord of the castle. The foundation named after him has been particularly committed to preserving the property since 2020.