"To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything." Goethe in 1787

Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo
May 2nd 2016

Published: May 4th 2016

We were met at the train station by our host Luigi's son, and greeted at the apartment by Luigi himself. Luigi is of Spanish/Jewish/German/Italian descent and the same age as Bill. He experienced the bombing of Palermo as a young child, had many stories of his parents' and grandparents' struggles to survive. He was an aeronautics professor, and speaks several languages, including French and Englis... Read Full Entry

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Lynn Beebe

Beebe

I was a primary teacher in a K-12 alternative school. In 2006, I took a leave for four months, travelling through Central America. I visited schools and studied Spanish along with being a tourist. My class followed my travels through this blog. I have continued to use this blog to keep friends, family and my students connected to my travels, recently in Mexico and now Kenya! 2009 I am now retired and my husband and I hope to do even more traveling! I am volunteering in an after-school program on the Indian reservation where we live and at the local art museu... full info

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Shop where I bought a small piece of pottery

Fountain

Main pedestrian street: Corso Vittorio Emmanuele

Scary cherubs in SS Salvatore church

"The church of SS Salvatore church of Norman origin, rebuilt in the Baroque period and covered with marbles colorati. L’edificio particularly interesting as it is one of the few examples in Palermo church with an elliptical plan, It suffered heavy bombing during World war II but was quickly rebuilt following the scientific restoration technique that allows the visitor to distinguish the original parts from those rebuilt."

SS Salvatore church

Baroque detail

Alliatas Palazzo di Villafranca

Music Room ceiling

Tea room

Painting Detail

Bill and our volunteer guide in the "Smoking Room"

Her English was hard to understand, but she was really passionate about showing us the palace!

Bill's alternative to knee surgey

A Van Dyke in the family chapel

Murano Chandlier

One of the four matching "screens" at the "Four Corners"

Each one represents a season, and were constructed in the early 1600's. They served as public art and as screens to block the view of the poor people's dwellings behind.

Fountain with many nudes

It was designed in 1554, and brought here piece by piece (644 in all) and reassembled in 1574. It was damaged, as was much of Palermo, by Allied bombing in WWII.

These little figures were all along the fountain edge

San Cataldo

Mosaic floor from 1153

San Cataldo

The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre (founded circa 1099) symbol on a curtain

San Cataldo

Ceiling

Church of La Martorana

Mosaics in the Church of La Martorana

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"To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything." Goethe in 1787

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