Cefalù is located on a bay on the northern coast of Sicily, with the cathedral situated along the water at the foot of a cliff. Roger II founded the cathedral, dedicated to the Saviour and SS Peter and Paul, likely on the site of an earlier church, in 1129. A inscription once set into the wall behind the main alter recorded that the church was completed between 1131 and 1148, an a mosaic inscription in the apse also records the latter date. Discrepancies in the height between the nave and the choir, and ambiguous documentation, however has led to controversy over dating various portions of the church.