Palermo was a logical stop for our final night in Sicily before crossing the Tyrrhenian Sea to Naples.
Despite many negative reviews I had read, I found Palermo to be a fascinating place with a large vibrant historic centre, well worth visiting - we should have stayed longer. Amongst the decay there was astounding beauty. Restoration attempts were evident, a feast of beautiful dishevelled historic buildings of differing architectural styles. The lack of uniformity an indication of the many invaders who had left their mark - Palermo is claimed to be the most conquered city in the world.
The Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracen Arabs, the Normans, the Swabians, the French and the Spanish were some of the invaders.
What has resulted is a fascinating fusion of architecture, food and culture. Central life seemed vibrant and chaotic amidst the grim and ruination.
Neglect was negated by beauty, unpredictability and curiosities.
On our way to Palermo we took a side step to Monreale. 15km south of Palermo, Monreale sits on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the fertile valley “Golden Shell” famed for its oranges, olives and almond. Its draw card which we had come to see was the Monreale Cathedral. Famed for its glorious golden mosaics completely covering the walls of the aisles, transept, nave and apse (68,220 square feet), it is perhaps the finest Norman building in Sicily.
It came to be when the Arabs took control of Palermo, banishing the bishop who then settled on what became the site of Monreale . Here he built a modest church. 240 years later, in 1072, the Normans drove the Arabs from Palermo and in 1174 King William II (William the Good) constructed a new church at Monreale. Arabic and Byzantine (as well as Norman) craftsmen worked on the cathedral resulting in a fusion of architectural styles and religious symbolism.
In 2015 it was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
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| Monreale Cathedral, walking over the cloisters. |
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| Rooftop, Monreale Cathedral. |
It was a struggle to locate our accommodation in Palermo.
We drove multiple times around a confusing one way system until eventually we pulled up on the pavement of what we hoped was our accommodation. There was no proper signage for Abatellis B&B. We waited until Jarvis and I could sneak in with a local through the now opened oversized fortress style door. We managed our way up several flights of stairs to a surprising discreet office, we were in the correct place, a relief. Our car was then whisked away by an unknown person to an unknown location for the night and we unpacked into two lovely bedrooms in this central historical quarter, Kalsa. With not much time before our departure the next day, we began our wanders through Palermo.
The boys were amused by the nudity of the sculptures of the Fontana Pretoria, the first stop after our mandatory gelato stop. This huge fountain was initially intended for a house in Florence, but was bought in 1573 by the Senate of Palermo to become the centrepiece of Piazza Pretoria. When it was first unveiled the public outcry over its flagrant nudity was immense, it has since been dubbed the Fontana della Vergogna or “Fountain of Shame”.
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| Piazza Pretoria, "Fountain of Shame", Palermo Centre. |
Only a little further up the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, we came across Piazza Vigliena, a Baroque piazza laid out on the orders of the Viceroys between 1608-1620. It was an Octagonal formed at the intersection of the two principal streets of Palermo. Four sides were streets and four were buildings with near identical facades. Each facade contained a fountain with statues of the four seasons, the four Spanish Kings of Sicily and the four patron saints of the old town areas.
At the time the piazza was built, it was one of the first major examples of town planning in Europe.
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| Piazza Vigliena, Palermo centre. |
This building was immense in scale, a visual feast of crenellations, arches and geometric patterns. It has been said to have suffered aesthetically from multiple re-workings over the centuries but remains a prime example of Sicily’s unique Arab-Norman architectural style. The boy’s patience was over so we made a quick dash in and out. Less ornate inside, we did not have time to visit the Norman Royal tombs or climb to the cathedrals roof for a city view.
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| Cattedrale di Palermo |
Dinner at Buatta was a good place to try a few Palermo specialities, although we weren’t keen to try them all (pasta with spleen!). We ate caponata salad (aubergine), panelle (fritters with chickpea flour), arancine(stuffed rice balls), crocchette (mashed potato and egg in breadcrumb), pizza bread. Ollie’s fried fish proved too adventurous, even for him - baby octopuses, tiny unidentifiable fish. Like its architecture, Palermo’s food seemed to be a fusion of ingredients, not all Italian.
The next morning we ate breakfast sitting at a long shared table.
Three choices of sweet cakes, two types of biscuits, meats and cheeses, this was our last slightly odd breakfast in Sicily, the boys were still complaining. We packed up our bags with the intention of retrieving them and our car by early evening for our overnight ferry crossing to Naples. Unfortunately we had to deal with our car immediately. No car parking buildings were open on Sunday, there was nowhere for it to go, we had to take it back. With no other choice available we left it, packed with all our possessions, down a side street amongst the signs and locals telling us that we couldn’t and shouldn’t.
We walked away nervously with our fingers-crossed.
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| Galleria Regionale della Sicilia |
Heading a little further down ‘Via Alloro’ we came across Palazzo Abatellis or Palazzo Patella. This 15th century Gothic-Catalan Palace was the residence of Francesco Abatellis, the port master of the Kingdom of Sicily. It now housed the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, works by Sicilian artists from the middles ages to the 18th century. It was widely regarded as Palermo’s best art museum. We were all quite captivated by its greatest treasure, the Triunfo della Morte( Triumph of Death). A fresco in which death was mounted on a horse leaping over his victims, the aristocrats of Palermo, while the poor and hungry look on. The exhibition space itself was impressive, it was designed in 1957 by Carlo Scarpa, one of Italy’s leading architects.
We walked across the road sat down outside and ate gelato.
Fuelled with sugar we managed to encourage the boys to walk back to the Ballaro market. At 1000 years old, the Ballaro is probably the oldest of Palermo’s Arabic markets. These Arabic origins were still evident. The noise, smells, narrow streets, colours, foods and goods on display provided a ‘souk’ like atmosphere in this hidden market. Life here didn’t quite fit the 21st century, it was a great way to see local life. We enjoyed lunch at trattoria Franco Franchi in the middle of the Ballaro market. Full of Italian families it was a great spot to observe tradition and celebration. A Holy Communion party of 20 was to one side of us a large family gathering to the other. The standard of dress was quite extravagant and uninhibited, more like ‘fancy’ dress to us. There was a lot of enjoyment, eating and laughter. Mountains of food were piled up on the party table beside us, baby octopuses eaten as finger food, and mounds of seafood. The women on the other side were dressed in diamantes and spangles with big blow dried hair, I was fascinated. We ate and dressed far more conservatively.
A starter of chips, panelle, and croquettes followed by cabonara pasta, tuna style pasta, calzone and pizza (buffalo mozzarella, rocket, prosciutto). All accompanied by a goblet sized glass of wine, one was more than enough.
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| Ballaro market |
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| Ballaro market |
Last on our list before we headed for the ferry was a visit to Teatro Massimo.
A fitting end to our stay, we sat on the steps where the final scenes of the film, The Godfather Part III were filmed, replaying the scene to the boys on our mobile phone. A re-enactment wasn’t on the cards. The Massimo Vittorio Emanuele Theatre is the third largest theatre in Europe, the largest in Italy. Built in 1875 it has more than 1300 seats and is renowned for its perfect acoustics.
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| Teatro Massimo |
We wandered back to the B&B to retrieve or car, exploring some other parts of the old town.
Some are said to remain untouched since they were bombed during the war. We were relieved to find our car and contents as we left them.
Conveniently it was only a 5 minute drive to our ‘Tirrenia’ ferry bound for Naples. At 20:15 we left. Standing on the outside deck we looked back fondly at Sicily as it disappeared into the distance across the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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| Ferry to Naples. |
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