Showing 1-6 of 6 results
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Castello della Zisa
A short bus or car journey southwest from Piazza Castelnuovo leads to Castello della Zisa, one of the only remaining monuments to the decadence of Moorish Palermo. With muqarnas vaults, latticework windows, fountains and even a wind chamber to protect the emir's family from the scirocco (the hot African wind), the villa deserves its name which comes from the Arabic al aziz, meaning 'magnificent'.
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Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti Tower
There is a tower next door to the Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti that has lovely views of the pink domes, with the spires of the cathedral thrown in.
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Convento dei Cappuccini
Despite its famous manuscript collection and the tomb of novelist Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa in the adjoining cemetery, the Convento dei Cappuccini is best known for its altogether more macabre catacombs, where the mummified bodies of some 8000 Palermitans who died between the 17th and 19th centuries are on show.
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Fontana Pretoria
Across Via Maqueda is Piazza Pretoria (M013A), a crowd of imposing (and recently restored) churches and buildings that surround the fabulously ostentatious - and, unfortunately, fenced-off - Fontana Pretoria. The fountain dominates the piazza, with its tiered basins rippling out in concentric circles crowded with nude nymphs, tritons and river gods that leap about the water.
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Porta Nuova
Next to the palace is the Porta Nuova, built to celebrate the arrival of Carlos V in Palermo in 1535 after a victory over the Tunisians. Designed in the mannerist style, the gate was partially destroyed by lightning in 1667 and rebuilt with the addition of the conical top. More than 400 years later, it still serves as a demarcation line between the old and new city.
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Quattro Canti
The busy intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda marks the Quattro Canti, the centre of Palermo. This intersection is surrounded by a perfect circle of curvilinear façades that disappear up to the blue vault of the sky in a clever feat of perspective. It is known locally as Il Teatro del Sole (Theatre of the Sun) as each façade is lit up in turn throughout the course of the day.
Showing 1-6 of 6 results
