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Published: October 31st 2006
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Chapter 21
Sicily: Part 2
The journey to Palermo had been truly exhausting, so a little lay in was required. Once they finally did arise, they decided to explore Sicily’s capital city, a much larger city then anticipated. Palermo had been an Arab Emirate but became a Norman Kingdom. Described as Europe’s most beautiful city in days gone by, several conquests and the second world war had, like so many Italian cities, given it that familiar tired look. Some describe this look as rustic, which would suggest a certain charm, most of these cities have gone beyond that element and no longer suggest charm but cry out for redevelopment.
They caught the 102 bus to the main theatre and the Piazza Castelnuovo, which rather disappointingly could have been delightful, were it not covered in both graffiti and dog muck. The theatre however was very impressive with a horse and chariot crowning the top. Money had obviously been spent on its restoration, a pity it could only stretch to one building.
The one good thing was that it being Sunday, the main avenue was closed off to traffic making the walking a far better and
more relaxing experience all together. Just past the piazza down the Via Maqueda, they came across “il Teatro Massimo”, a fabulous and clean building which pretty much took up the whole square. Horse and carts lined up outside eager to catch the tourist dollar, as small gothic kiosks lined the avenues selling tickets. Further along the main road, they reached a cross-road known as the “Quatro Canti” (the four corners), where four 17th Century Baroque Spanish facades with statues look each other in the eye, defending their own quarter.
Tourist Site 20: Quattro Canti History: This open space, circular in form was laid out between 1608 and 1620 by the Roman architect Giulio Lasso at the junction of the two major streets in Palermo at that time, Cassarò (now known as Vittorio Emanuele), which leads from the Norman Palace to the harbour, and Via Nuova; the building of the latter was begun with much ceremony in 1608, and it was later re-named Maqueda after the Spanish viceroy. Lasso designed this junction so that there would be a concave frontage on each of the four corners; behind one is hidden the church of San Giuseppe dei
Teatini.
At ground level on each corner he built a fountain, with sculptured figures on the three upper floors, accompanied by Classical Greek columns, Doric at the bottom, then Ionic and finally Corinthian. It was long after 1620 before they were finished; consequently, above sculptures symbolizing the Four Seasons at the bottom, it was possible to insert statues of the four Spanish kings since 1516, namely Charles V, Philip II, III and IV, the latter having ascended to the throne in 1621. On the uppermost floor are the female patron saints Cristina, Ninfa, Oliva and Agata.
Martin’s comments: Maybe not a place you would immediately consider as a tourist site, but worth a look nonetheless as four corners face each other makes you think that sometimes town planners can get it right. Just a minute further presented our two with a real gem on either side of the road. One one side you’ll find the Fonatana Pretoria, a 16th Century sculpture once known as the fountain of shame. The nudity wasn’t that racy for modern eyes, but the detail on the female genitalia, not seen before in Italian must have set tongues wagging back in the
1500’s. Although the proper name for this place is Piazza Pretoria, most of the entire area is taken up by the enormous fountain, and its basin. Designed by Florentine Francesco Camillani (1554-5) and Michalangelo Naccerino (1573), the basin was designed as the garden for a Florenine villa, and was installed here in 1573 and decorated with dozens of statues. Many brides queue up to be photographed with this as their background.
On the other side of the road, rather ironically, you will find the Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Teatini. The church was built at the beginning of the 17th century by Giacomo Besio, a Genoese member of the Teatini order. It has a majestic though simple façade. In the centre niche is housed a state of San Gaetano, founder of the Teatini order. Another striking feature is the large dome with a blue and yellow majolica covering. The tambour decorated with double columns, and was designed by Giuseppe Mariani. The belfry tower was designed by Paolo Amato.
The interior has a Latin cross plant with a nave and two aisles, divided by marble columns of variable height. The inner decoration is a typical overwhelming Baroque art one,
with stuccoes by Paolo Corso and Giuseppe Serpotta. Great frescoes can be seen in the nave, in the vault of the transept: these were painted by Filippo Tancredi, Guglielmo Borremans and Giuseppe Velasquez. The frescoes were severely damaged in the course of World War II, but have been accurately restored. The most important piece of art is however a wood crucifix by Fra' Umile of Petralia.
The crypt houses ancient part belonging to a former church, dedicated to Madonna of Providence
Further down Via Maqueda, they came across Chiesa di san Cataldo, a Norman/Arab church with three very distinctive (though uninspiring) red domes on the top of it. From the central station they headed down Via Lincoln and passed the Orto Botanico (Botanical gardens) with an Egyptian feel, which unfortunately was closed that day. Further along the same road they entered the Villa Giulia, a wonderful garden/park where the whole Sicilian Scout troop were did-dib-dibbing. As it was carnival season, many of the children were dressed up as their parents took pictures of them with the evocative sculptures in the backdrop.
From the gardens they walked towards the sea, where the sea front was having a major
face-lift. Palm trees and landscape gardening was beginning to take shape, but where the work had not yet been done, it was blatantly obvoius that it needed to be done. Walking along Foro Italico, they came across the Porta Felice, a large gate that had tried to keep many out and even now hundreds of years later, the gate still stands, though its function is somewhat limited now.
Further down from the harbour, they turned off at the Piazza Marina and came across a quaint little flea market, where buyers haggled with the sellers on item of no real significance, but watching the deals being struck was particularly interesting. (Think of Monty Python’s Life of Brian). Next to the market, a park bench beckoned our two to take a break. In the middle of the park stood a tree. “ I am no tree, I am an Ent” were the words that sprang to both of their minds. For this particular tree could have been Tree-beard himself (Read Lord of the Rings for reference).
It was a vast tree, with almost stone-like roots, meandering thick snakes ready to wrap around anyone who dared to approach. Its branches
spread horizontally, and from those branches, new ones emerged downwards rooting themselves to the ground, creating a cage effect around the tree. Large bushy tassels hung like corks from a hat, blowing away any airborne predators. Tree-beard itself opened up, like a spider web enticing children to come closer, before slamming shut, encasing them as the bark muffles their screams. It was the most fascinating tree either of them had ever seen and it alone was worth coming to Palermo for.
Via Vittorio Emanuelle led onto Via Roma (the main shopping street) and home of the Chiesa di san Domenico which incidentally was also closed. A long walk down Via Roma eventually brought them to the English gardens. A beautiful park, full of dressed up children in full carnival regalia who running around squirting foam and string at each other. A small fairground was provided with miniature rides for the kids. Its centrepiece fountain was perfect as a backdrop for those carnival snapshots. Palermo, like most of Italy had some stunningly pretty areas on the one hand, and some absolute dives on the other. (This to be honest is pretty much the case with anywhere). They returned to the
hotel and went for a Chinese just opposite the hotel which was cheap, friendly, and served good food. It had been a very long day but there were enough positives to take from Palermo so far. Highlight: The Gardens
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