This is part 2 of a report on our recent 2-week trip to Sicily.
HISTORY, CHURCHES, MARKETS, AND THE MAFIA
We started the next day with A Palermo Walking Tour led by Domenico Aronica, a RS recommendation. There were about a dozen of us and the tour was a great mix of history, culture, and food. It started at the center of Palermo, Quattro Canti, moved on to Piazza Pretoria (commonly called the Fountain of Shame), and then Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’ Ammiraglio (also known as La Martorana) which represents Sicily so well with its Norman-Arab-Byzantine-Baroque style and some amazingly preserved Byzantine mosaics. After a stop for arancini at a local shop, we headed to Ballerò Market, the largest and most authentic of Palermo’s markets (Capo is the other). We walked through rows of vendors with beautiful displays of fresh vegetables, then there were the fishmongers yelling back and forth at one another as they gutted and chopped that morning’s catch. At one booth Domenico stopped us to enjoy sfincione, imagine pizza on focaccia, and then we stopped for a refreshing drink of pomegranate juice and panelle, a chickpea fritter. Next we went to Chiesa del Gesu di Casa Professa, an ornate baroque style church with frescos and bas-relief sculptures and detailed inlaid marble tile work on the floor. We finished our tour with gelato and cannoli and a short walk back to Quattro Canti. All during the tour Domenico talked about Sicily's long rich history from antiquity to World War II and the EU. He was informative and entertaining and cheerfully answered questions.
After the tour, we walked on our own past the Palermo Cathedral to the Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel. While the Norman-Byzantine mosaics were impressive, the view was marred by restoration work. Hopefully that work will be completed soon. The Royal Apartments were also closed for an official event. The Royal Gardens behind the palace were beautiful, however.
On our third day we started with a 3 hour No Mafia Tour through Addiopizzo travel. The tour started outside of the Teatro Massimo (Opera House), where the final scene of the Godfather movies was filmed. Claudio spoke about the roots of the Mafia in rural Sicily, its spread, including to the US, organizational structure, and operations. He dispelled the romanticized myths about the Mafia, talked about the events in the 1980s and 90s, including the brutal assassinations of two judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, and discussed the groundswell of people rising against the Mafia. As part of the tour, we saw the Memorial Wall to Falcone, Borsellino and their security details. We walked through Capo Market, past the Cathedral, which served as a backdrop to a discussion about the church and the Mafia, and talked about the anti-Mafia movement in Sicily today. We ended at City Hall and Piazza Pretoria. The tour offered amazing details on what is, unfortunately, a part of the past and present of Sicily.
After the walking tour, we visited Chiesa e Monastero di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, where they make and sell amazing baked goods using old recipes from the nuns. We got freshly stuffed Cannoli, minne di vergine cake, and Sfincia di san Giuseppe (traditionally made on St. Joseph's Day, March 19) and had a sugar lunch in the monastery courtyard. Afterwards we toured the Church, which was completed in 1596, with its decorations from the Renaissance, Baroque, and late-Baroque (Rococo) eras. We also climbed to the roof, which gave us a fantastic view of the city, harbor, and the mountain peaks that are very close to the city. Nearby we visited the church of San Cataldo, which was built in 1154 and clearly shows the fusion between Norman and Arab styles that is unique to Sicily. Most striking are the 3 red domes, which are characteristically Arab. We then walked to the Palermo Cathedral, which again combined different architectural styles. Despite the exterior, the interior is very plain.