Palermo. Red and harsh earth. Echo and nostalgia for an oasis, pleased with beauty. Luxuriant, miscellany of cultures and cradle of Sicilian identity. Beautiful and immense. The agate mountains frame it and the sea, changing in tones, kisses it. Light filters through entire neighborhoods, shadows piles of houses and illuminates others. Discovering Palermo with a thousand-year history. Italian Youth Capital 2017 e Italian capital of culture for 2018.
The charm of Palermo
Palermo fascinates and seduces. Crossroads of centuries, mixes of cultures (who have lived and coexisted here for centuries) and the splendor of monuments. The Cathedral, the Norman Palace, once the imperial seat and today of the Sicilian Regional Assembly with its mosaics of the Palatine Chapel. The reddish domes of the Eastern Romanesque church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the Palazzo della Zisa and the cathedral of Monreale. To discover the city we recommend starting from the Quattro Canti (or piazza Villena, or Ottagono del Sole, or Teatro del Sole).
The square is octagonal in shape, is located at the intersection of Via Maqueda and the Cassaro, today Via Vittorio Emanuele. The Quattro Canti also indicate the four main districts. Alberghiera, La Loggia (inside it houses the most important market in Palermo: the Vucciria. We advise you to admire the painting dedicated to the Vucciria of Palermo by Renato Guttuso present at Palazzo Steri, in Piazza Marina), the Capo and the Kalsa. A few meters from the Quattro Canti is: Piazza Pretoria also known as square of Shame with the beautiful fountain by Francesco Camilliani.
Continuing to discover the city of Palermo, one cannot fail to stop and admire the Teatro Massimo in Piazza Verdi (at the end of Via Maqueda). A curiosity: it is said that during the construction of the Theater, the tomb of a nun was desecrated. From that moment the ghost wanders and inhabits the theater. Or the Politeama in piazza Ruggero Settimo. In the Kalsa district, instead, stop at Spasimo Church, in the Foro Italico and take a tour around the neighborhood. Here it is teeming with art and history.
It's still…
Don't miss the Catacombs dei Cappuccini (inside the mummy of little Rosalia Lombardo, who died at two years of pneumonia in 1920 and considered one of the best examples of mummification). Monte Pellegrino and the Addaura Caves. The Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of the city (on July 14th and 15th of each year the feast is held with processions and floats and on September 4th, instead, the liturgical feast is celebrated). In addition to the Vucciria market, take a trip to those of Ballarò, Capo and Borgo Vecchio.
Let yourself be tempted by street food. Panino ca meusa (bread with spleen, bread and panelle (panelle are small omelettes made with chickpea flour), cannoli with ricotta and "arancine" (they are called arancini in the eastern part of the island). dip in the sea? Not only Mondello, but also Capogallo, Addaura, Sferracavallo, Isola delle Femmine, Cefalù, Casteldaccia, Altavilla Milicia and many others. Palermo is a treasure trove of beauties "adorned with so many elegance that travelers set out to admire the beauties of nature and art".
