Today was a guided tour of the city of Palermo and we started with a visit to the historic centre and the Four Corners (Quattro Canti), a Baroque square of the 17th century, considered the centre of the historic quarters of Palermo. The buildings along the way were very impressive and, of course, shops lined the streets as we made our way to the Cathedral of Palermo. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get inside as they were holding Sunday mass.
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2 of Quattro Canti
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Historic Centre
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Arabian influence
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Palermo Historical Centre
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Fontana Della Vergonia
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Cathedral
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Palermo Cathedral
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Palermo Cathedral
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Palermo Historical Centre
In the stores, you will see a lot of ceramic majolica pine cones which are an important symbol to Sicily. It communicates a welcoming, hospital home and most Sicilians have one at the entrance to their homes or in their gardens.
We visited a Baroque church with a painting by Pietro Novello.
Then off to the famous Capo Market, where street vendors were serving all sorts of food: seafood, grilled spine, fruits and sweets. Here we had several Sicilian specialties including arancini, chick pea fritters and eggplant and olive tapenade.
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Grilling Spine
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Seafood
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Local Sweets
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Abundance in Capo Market
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Persimmons
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Local Sweets
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Sugar Characters
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Final stop in Monreale to visit the church built in 1186 with bronze doors named the Gate of Paradise. Each panel weighs approximately 4,000 pounds. The inside is a masterpiece of mosaic art and 200 kg of gold were used to complete roughly 6,000 square metres of mosaic. Incredibly, it was completed in only 10 years.
Fun fact: You see a lot of coral jewellery in Sicily and the story goes that the coral is the blood of Medusa falling into the water. It is believed to ward off evil so every child born in Sicily gets a gift of coral.
Palermo is an incredible city and is the administrative centre of Sicily. Its rich history of Jewish, Greek Byzantine and Arabian influence can be seen everywhere but most especially in the historic city centre. I was only here for 3 days and I wish I had more time. I’m sure I will be back!