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| Palermo |
Palermo
– the
multicultural
capital
city of Sicily, crossroads
of
civilizations
Once
you arrive in Palermo,
the capital
city of Sicily
and one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, the first thing you
should do is to
visit
its historic center and you will realize that this city is a
crossroads, like the intersection where the Quattro
Canti
square is located, a crossroads of many ancient and modern cultures,
a diverse mix of history, traditions, religions and architecture. It
is no coincidence that this city of unique beauty was declared a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 2015.
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| Street of Palermo |
As
you walk through its streets you realize that it is a perfect holiday
destination because it combines rich history, impressive art,
enchanting nature and intense nightlife with many bars. You can find
everything, picturesque streets, historic buildings, beautiful
museums and theaters, ancient and baroque churches, impressive
medieval palaces and beautiful squares. And if you love nature, then
you will appreciate the crystal clear waters of the beautiful beaches
such as Mondello
beach
and the hiking trails of Monte
Pellegrino.
In
its colorful markets such as
Ballarò, Capo and
Vucciria
you can find local products, exotic flavors of spices and try the
local cuisine.
 |
| Street of Palermo |
Let's
start from the beginning, the history of Palermo begins in the 8th
century BC, when it was founded by Phoenician merchants. Then came
the Greeks and called it Panormos,
the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans, the Germans, the
Spaniards of Aragon and the French Bourbons. Sometimes creatively and
sometimes destructively they left their marks and shaped the
multicultural history of Sicily until in May 1860 the red shirts of
General
Giuseppe Garibaldi
landed in Marsala and gradually liberated Sicily. Its people vote in
favor of the island’s union with the united kingdom of Italy.
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| The clock of the Cathedral |
Walking
through Palermo, you recognize the places and atmosphere from Luchino
Visconti’s film ‘Il Gattopardo’ or Robert Warlow’s eponymous
television series for Netflix,
based on the book by Giuseppe
Tomasi di Lampedusa,
the last heir to the Sicilian princely dynasty of Lampedusa. ‘The
Leopard’ recounts the end of the aristocracy in Sicily with the
arrival of Garibaldi, who subdues the Bourbon flags and surrenders
the south of Italy and Sicily to King Vittorio Emanuele and the now united
Italy. An era that became known as the Risorgimento.
The city was heavily bombed in July 1943, when it was occupied by
Allied troops. The Lampedusa palace was bombed by the Allied forces
and Giuseppe fell into a deep depression, locked himself in his house
and began writing ‘The Leopard’, a historical novel, based on his
great-grandfather, Don Giulio Fabrizio, prince of the island of
Lampedusa.
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| Porta Nuova |
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| Detail from Porta Nuova |
We
started our walk in Palermo from Porta
Nuova,
next to the Norman
Palace.
From here begins the main artery of the city, Via
Vittorio Emanuele.
First
stop at Palazzo
dei Normanni (Norman Palace).
The Norman Palace was built in 1130 and was known as the Royal
Palace. Today the Regional Assembly of Sicily uses the building and
is the oldest royal residence in Europe and the home of Kings
Frederick II Visconti and Conrad IV, who ruled Palermo. It has
stunning furniture, frescos at ceilings, exquisite fabrics and famous
paintings and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Norman Palace |
The
architecture is also inspired by the Islamic style. It contains the
Palatine Chapel, a beautiful chapel with a wooden ceiling, painted in
the Islamic style and with mosaics from Constantinople.
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| Cathedral
of Palermo |
Arriving
at the Cathedral
of Palermo,
we are enchanted by the combination of architectural styles. There
are Roman, Greek, Arab, Catalan and other influences. It was founded
in 1185 but has additions from other centuries. It houses the tombs
of Roger II and the Holy Roman Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II.
The Norman-Byzantine churches of San Cataldo (11th century) and San
Giovanni degli Eremiti (1132) date from the same period.
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| Entrance of the Cathedral
of Palermo |
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| Cathedral
of Palermo |
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| Statua di Santa Rosalia |
The
Four
Corners or Quattro Canti
in Italian is the most famous crossroads in all of Sicily, an
octagonal square at the intersection of two of Palermo's main
streets, Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda.
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| Quattro Canti |
In
1600, the Spanish ruler Viceroy Marquis of Villena built Via
Marqueda, named after his predecessor the Duke of Marqueda, to
intersect Via Vittorio Emanuele. At each corner are statues, columns,
fountains and sections representing the main districts of Palermo
such as Albergheria, Capo, La Loggia and Kalsa.
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| Quattro Canti |
It
was the center of public life in the city where residents gathered
for weddings, festivals, feasts and funerals.
At one end is Piazza
Pretoria
with its magnificent fountain. Its nickname was Piazza
Vergogna, Square of Shame.
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| Fontana Della Vergogna |
A
Spanish nobleman, Don Luigi de Toledo, commissioned a fountain with
nude statues representing Tritons, monsters and Sirens in Florence,
but because he lost money from gambling, the statue came to Palermo. The
problem was that there was a monastery near the statue and it was a
huge scandal for the Catholic nuns to watch it every day, so they
called it Fontana
Della Vergogna,
the fountain of shame or the fountain of Pretoria.
We
continue our walk and come across the Chiesa
della Martorana (Martorana Church),
famous for its magnificent mosaics and Byzantine style. It was built
in 1143 and has two names,
Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio or San Nicolò dei Greci.
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| Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio or San Nicolò dei Greci |
The
locals nicknamed the church Martorana and that is how it is known
today. Martorana is a sweet made of almond paste on top of the
cassata
dessert
and the church got its name when the nuns decorated empty fruit trees
with them to impress a king who visited the church. It is one of the
most impressive medieval churches in all of Italy and is under the
auspices of UNESCO.
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| Cassata
dessert |
We
continue our wandering in the center of Palermo and we come across
the Ballarò flea market. In Palermo there are several more
flea markets, such as the Capo and Vucciria markets, where the
visitor can find local products with unique flavors and try the local
cuisine.
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| Local products with unique flavors at the Ballarò flea market |
The
cuisine of Sicily is influenced by many different cultures and in
Palermo you can find all the traditional dishes. The most famous of
these are the arancini, fried rice balls stuffed with many mixtures,
the most famous is the mixture with meat ragout and mozzarella. Also
pane e panelle, small fritters made from chickpea flour, pepper and
lemon, sfincione, a pizza with mozzarella cheese, meat, onions and
peppers, rascatura croquettes made with chickpeas, parsley and onion,
cazzilli potato croquettes with parsley, pasta with salted anchovies,
tomatoes, raisins, pine nuts and breadcrumbs and anelletti al forno,
baked pasta.
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| Fresh vegetables and fruits at the Ballarò flea market |
Also
famous are the cannoli desserts, fried tube-shaped pastries
filled with fruit and nuts and ricotta cheese, and frutta Martorana,
traditional marzipan pastries in the shape of fruits and vegetables.
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| The famous cannoli desserts |
We
arrived at Porta
Felice,
which is the gateway to the city of Palermo in the Foro Italico area,
a park with pedestrian walkways at the entrance to the harbor. On the
other side of the harbor is Castello a mare, which gave its name to
the harbor district, Castellammare.
From this entrance to the harbor begins the city's longest street,
Via Vittorio Emanuele. The gate was built in Baroque style between
the 16th and 17th centuries.
 | |
| Porta Felice |
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| Porta Felice |
Near the gate are two
churches, the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà and the Chiesa
delle Sante Anna e Teresa d'Ávila alla Kalsa, which took its
name from the homonymous district of Palermo, Kalsa.
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| Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà |
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| Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà |
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| Chiesa delle Sante Anna e Teresa d'Ávila alla Kalsa |
On the
way back we visited another beautiful church, the Chiesa di
Sant'Anna la Misericordia.
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| Chiesa di Sant'Anna la Misericordia |
From the port we went up to
our last stop, the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, the largest opera house
in Italy and the third largest in Europe.
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| Teatro Massimo di Palermo |
It was built in 1897 by
powerful and wealthy lords who wanted to show the world that they
were the richest of all.
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| Teatro Massimo di Palermo |
Ernesto Basile was the
designer and was inspired by Greek temples. Scenes from The
Godfather – Part III were filmed here.
Despite the rainy weather, we
walked through the streets of Palermo's historic center, ate arancini
at Sfrigola, drank cappuccinos and cocktails, and ate the most
delicious caponata at Da Spirito (caponata di melanzane, siciliana) a
delicious traditional dish of fried eggplant and other vegetables.
Continue
reading about our trip to Sicily.
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