Palermo, Saturday

After a brief overnight nap, we arose at Dark O'clock to go to Palermo. I managed to fit the weekend's essentials for both of us into a tiny tote bag and my purse. I'm getting good at this!

Naturally, because we're in Italy, the first question of the day is: What will we eat for lunch? Our learning itinerary is packed, and free time for lunch didn't allow for a leisurely one. We stopped at Bistrot, where Vincenzo bought all of us his favorite panino, and I downed a caffè and cornetto. We parked near Marisa's house, as did Graziella and Filippo, and waited for the Pullman to show up.

A note about Pullmans: the Sicilians, living on a mountainous island, do not have the train system that exists on the mainland. It's fine, but slow, and, well, I wouldn't rely on it to my detriment. They instead use the Pullman, which is, as I've often described, a luxury bus with La-Z-Boys. Really, truly comfortable, affordable, heating, a/c, often free WiFi, charging outlets, and sometimes movies or soccer games on drop-down screens. There are regularly scheduled Pullmans for daily travel, and, in our case, a chartered one for an excursion. Our friend Pippo, a retired French professor, organized these little getaways, although he's not officially a travel agent.

With this group of friends, it's a joyous cacophony, something I normally abhor in the early morning, but amongst these friends it is done with so much love that it's infectious. We seated ourselves comfortably, and watched the sunrise. A quick stop halfway for a caffè, water, and, for Joe, a cornetto; the place was crowded, but I saw one other American... I could tell, because he was wearing a Packers sweatshirt! We said salute with our cappuccini.

Soon, the sea appeared through our autobus window as we approached Palermo.

First stop, Chiesa della Martorana, the Marzipan church. It overlooks the antiquity of Palermo, the Piazza Bellini, an important UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Arab-Norman Palermo. In the square are also located the Baroque church of Santa Caterina, the Bellini Theatre and the posterior facade of Palazzo Pretorio. Some ruins of Punic walls remain. All of this is in what is known as the Kalsa, one of the first planned Arab settlements in Europe (9th century-- a Muslim city comparable to Cairo). it was the center of Balarm, now called Palermo.

The area was surrounded by a stone wall with four gates. The three Arab red domes, dating circa 1260, behind Chiesa di San Cataldo, are graphic icons of Palermo as a multi-ethnic city.

Remnant of a Punic wall.

The true name of this first church visit today is Chiesa di Santa Maria dell'Ammariglio (St. Mary of the Admirals), but is nicknamed Martorana. Here's why:

This is an Albanian church, known as the Orthodoxy of Italy, an Italo-Albanian church, faithful to ancient titles, and is considered a marriage between the Greeks and Sicily. It is a "co-cathedral". The Italo-Albanian parish community has always been part of the Catholic Church, but follows the rite and spiritual traditions that unite it to the Eastern liturgical tradition. It was originally designed to be a mosque.

In 1433, the church was given over to an aesthetically challenged order of Benedictine nuns – founded by Eloisa Martorana, hence its nickname – who tore down the Norman apse, reworked the area in a fussy baroque fashion. The surname Martorana translates to Marzipan, the art of painting realistic fruit confectionary that Sicily is known for, and is also used as a sheet of sugar used to wrap around cakes and other sweets. So, this nun wrapped the gaudy Baroque style around the Byzantine mosaic church, giving the nickname a double meaning.

It is a Byzantine splendor, especially in the morning, when the rays of sun illuminate the tiles.

Next, we cross the Piazza to a church with the most splendid name you can imagine: Santa Caterina!

Refurbished over the centuries, the church retains elements and decorations from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo eras. Above is the anteroom of the church, the choir loft, sheltered from the public by metal grates, allowing the Dominican cloistered nuns to view the mass while separated from the public (cloister nuns can't be seen by the secular world).

I mostly took pictures of the cloister gardens.

Because dogs.

Mariella and Vincenzo

Done with churches! On to the Fountain of Shame! Though I've been to this fountain several times in the past, it never ceases to amaze. Its true name is Fontana Praetoria.

It covers nearly the entire Piazza Pretoria in the heart of the historic center of Palermo.

Designed by Francesco Camilliani in the 16th century, and taking nearly 30 years to complete, it's considered one of the most important examples of High Renaissance architecture in Sicily. The basin features numerous statues and reliefs depicting mythological creatures and scenes, as well as the four seasons and the twelve Olympian gods. The 50 statues include animals, monsters, harpies, sirens and tritons.

Many Palermitans objected to the nude figures, and it was even rumored that the fountain's waters were infected with syphilis, which earned it the nickname, the Fountain of Shame. Today, however, the Fontana Praetoria is considered one of Palermo's most iconic landmarks.

Most importantly, this fountain is my landmark for a nearby wall, with an ancient stone plaque embedded in it, with the name Caterina Pingitore (the Italian spelling of Joe's last name before Ellis Island or whomever screwed it up). I was explaining this to Marisa and Mariella, telling them that I believe in signs, and this one---this one was written in stone. But as I turned from the Fontana Praetoria, it wasn't there. I went up and down the general area, thinking I misremembered the placement, but to no avail. Maybe this is another sign, I joked to Marisa and Mariella. There are two enormous wooden doors which, as Marisa suggested, may be closing off a vestibule. Sometimes those memorials are inside the vestibule. She may be right, as I remember it being close to an interior door. I hope so, anyway, since I was coming down with the heebie-jeebies in its absence.

The group parted, some going off to eat their panini, some going to the incredible sensory explosion that is Mercato Ballarò. Mariella, Vincenzo, and friends were heading away from Ballarò, but I stopped and said sorry; I really want to experience this again. I don't think Joe was too happy about my decision, though I asked before telling the others we're heading there. I get it! It's nice to sit down and order wine with your meal. But we're in Palermo! The city that is King of all street food!

Bbq'd spleen

Cipollata

The chicken dance

Baccalà, which I LOVE

Walking there, we heard the vendors' hawking cries before we saw them. I wanted to try panelle, a simple fried square of chickpea flour with coarse grains of salt. I was delighted with it!

We saw enormous oysters for €2 each, sarde beccafico (another favorite of mine), fried calamari, swordfish that's hacked off as you wait and they'll cook it for you on cast iron over the fire; peaches, persimmons, nuts and spices of every kind; bbq'd spleen and cipolatta (pancetta wrapped around green onion and grilled... mio Dio), chicken, arancinA (in Palermo, it's feminine), and an array of confections that's a little mind boggling. My tired no-sleep self came alive with the sheer over-stimulation of it ALL! I imagined being there with Nikos', who would freaking love it!

Free time was ending; we headed back towards Fontana Praetoria to meet the group before exploring our next sites, Palazzo Abatellis and the Palazzo Steri (or, Carceri dell'Inquisizione -- inmates of the inquisition).

As we walked, we passed the famous Quattro Canti (the four songs) fountains on each corner of an intersection. I didn't get all four, since there was a musician bussing for money in front of the fourth one, and I didn't have it in me to dig for change. My lack of sleep was catching up with me.

We continued through the Kalsa interior, walking toward the pretty Giardino della Vittoria, whose surrounding ironwork fence alone is worth a gaze.

Street art

Ironwork on palazzo that is now a government building

Arab influence still strong

Gritty and wonderful Kalsa neighborhood

Original signage

Love me some pretty balconies

Fence is interspersed with posts of arrows and those of various animals.

Enormous banyan tree, where a horrendous slaying of anti-Mafia occurred, forty-some years ago.

Palermo patron Santa Rosalia festivities were finishing, but some remnants of it remain.

View of harbor sailboats sprinkled between the buildings

Palazzo Chiaromonte

Next, the Palazzo Chiaromonte Steri, now parte of a University, and home to the Sicilan Inquisition, giving it a second name: Carceri dell'Inquisizione.

The palace was used from the 17th century through the 18th century by the Spanish Inquisition to imprison, torture and kill all citizens who were inconvenient for the social, political and above all religious life of the ancient city of Palermo.

Hundreds of drawings by the prisoners themselves have been uncovered, giving us a glimpse of life as a condemned person. These works were, and tell the drama of what is often unjust imprisonment.

Ferdinand II the Catholic, King of Spain, sent his delegated inquisitors to establish the first Inquisition Tribunal in Sicily. No one could foresee the climate of terror that they would establish on the island for three long centuries. Although the infamous burnings of witches and heretics were less common than one might think (in Sicily, 114 were counted in three centuries), the presence of the Inquisition threw a cosmopolitan society into turmoil, in which Christians, Jews and Muslims had coexisted peacefully for centuries.

A complaint, even if it was the result of false accusations, could lead to months of detention, interrogation and torture, which was often followed by a confession with confirmation of all the accusations. The penalties for the less serious crimes ( abiura de levi ) included a public repentance that culminated with a parade of the condemned through the streets of the city, clutching a palm (symbol of redemption) and a lit candle (symbol of rediscovered faith). The

more serious penalties also included a ban from holding public office, the seizure of assets and the obligation to wear the sambenito (somewhat of a long cloth dunce cap) for a period of time, and a tunic that publicly identified him as a “sinner”.

Be warned, America.

We left that morbidly fascinating place and walked to Palazzo Abatellis. By this time, my photographic efforts waned, as did my energy level.

Also in the Kalsa quarter, Palazzo Abatellis is home to the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, the Gallery of Art for the Sicilian region.

15th century Gothic-Catalan architecture and the residence of Francesco Abatellis, port master of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Antonello da Messina

"Anunciation"

Like the Mona Lisa, tinier than you'd expect. This is considered one of the great treasures of the museum.

San Giovanni, doing the Italian hand thing.

Portrait of Eleanor of Aragon is a marble sculpture of Eleanor of Aragon, originally carved by Francesco Laurana in 1468 for her tomb but now in the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo. It is very iconographically similar to Bust of a Princess (Louvre), but actually reminds me of my twins' friend,

Mealat Worku.

The Triumph of the Death of Palermo, corner detail of an enormous mural.

It is a detached fresco measuring 600 x 642 cm; the proposed dating is 1446, some years after the passage of the Palazzo Sclafani, from which it comes, to the seat of the Grande and Nuovo Hospital for the poor of the city. The name of the artist is not known but, due to the high artistic level, it is thought that it may have been commissioned by the rectors of the hospital or even by King Alfonso of Aragon to a foreign artist, probably Catalan, specially brought to Sicily.

The fresco was damaged by the bombing of Palermo in 1943: to facilitate its removal from the wall, in 1944 it was decided to divide it into four parts and proceed with the cleaning and restoration.

Entrance garden

Palace facade

Eventually, it became a female monastery, when modifications adapted it to monastic life. In 1943, the palace was struck during an Allied air bombing. Upon its restoration 10 years later, it was designated to use it for the Galleria d’Arte per le collezioni d’arte medievale ("Gallery of medieval collection"), and now hosts some important works.

After a good but tiring day, we finally arrived at our pretty hotel. There was time for a short repose and a freshening up before our surprisingly excellent hotel dinner. White wine accompanied pennette with swordfish, followed by a main course of the delicately delicious orata and a salad; we finished with a flavorful assortment of fresh fruit.

Tired, but loving this city, we friends took a leisurely nighttime stroll before conking out for the night. Thank goodness; we don't set off until 9:00 tomorrow morning!