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Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Our apartment has one of those old fashioned coffee makers. They are called Moka Pots. We’d never used one before. I watched a quick video on how to use them and we were off to the races. The result was two cups of very strong coffee. We were surprised that there were no grounds in our cup because there is no filter. The only tricky part was trying to get the burner to the right temperature.
We went for a guided tour of Teatro Massimo, which loosely translated means the biggest theater. This is Palermo’s opera house. King Vittorio Emanuele I ordered it built shortly after the reunification on Italy. Not everyone was happy with the building because construction required several churches and a monastery to be destroyed but the King wanted it to be in a location that would symbolically join the old town and the new town – echoing the reunification of the country. Legend says that the Mother Superior of the monastery still haunts the building and causes people to trip on the stairs.
The opera house is the largest in Italy and the third largest in Europe. It is also the location where the ending of Godfather III takes place. Michael Corleone and his family attend the opera and are seated in the Royal Box. Our tour included the box and the sitting room just outside the box. Spoiler alert: the front stairs to the building are where Michael’s daughter is shot and killed.
The theater has standard seating at the orchestra level. At all other levels the seating is in large boxes. The seating areas are trimmed in gold and have Murano glass lighting. At the top of the ceiling is a dome consisting of 12 frescoed panels that can be moved / opened to allow air to circulate. The building’s interior is opulently decorated in marble and dark wood paneling.
While we were there the orchestra was rehearsing for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem. We couldn’t help but sing along. We would have loved to attend a performance but there was absolutely nothing on the schedule until the day after we leave.
Our next destination was a church back near the Pretorian Fountain: Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio. We’ve tried to see it several times before but in spite of the schedule posted on its door it was always closed. Along the way we stopped for looks at Chiesa della Madonna della Mazza, and Chiesa di Santa Ninfa dei Crociferi. You have to take your opportunities as they come because these non-touristy churches are not always open. When we finally got to Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio it was closed. According to the sign on its door it should have been open until 6:00 pm.
Chiesa di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria was in the same square. We’d been there before but just to get marzipan and cannoli. We decided to take a tour. You can visit the church for free but if you want to tour the monastery and climb to the roof (our tour guide from the previous day said it was the best view in the city) you have to buy a ticket. The cost was €10.00 per person. Credit cards are accepted.
The church is rather large and decorated in the High Baroque Style. It was so over the top that it might be considered gaudy. Every square inch was covered in inlaid marble, frescos, or high relief marble sculptures. The altars contained religious themed paintings, too. We walked around the entire church and then sat in the pews for a while trying to take it all in.
Next we climbed up to the roof top. About midway we had an opportunity to walk the balcony that extends high up along the church’s walls. We could see down into the church and had a great view of the ceilings. Near the back of the church the space opened up to several rooms including a small chapel.
From the roof we could easily see the ocean and the mountains in the distance. On the other side we could see the entire cityscape. It included many churches, the square below, and the best view of the Pretorian Fountain. For good measure we took a bunch of selfies.
The last bit was the monastery. I’m not sure why it was called a monastery because only nuns lived there. The building is enormous. Upstairs we saw the nun’s cells. They were rather Spartan but all had beautiful Majorca tiled floors. Further along we entered a large room at the front of the church. It was actually behind the main altar. It was beautifully decorated and had a huge carpet. There was also a set of choir stalls. The church could be seen through a large iron grating. No doubt the choir could be heard from back here as well.
Downstairs there were more function rooms including the refractory. The Abbess’ office was a large space with beautiful furnishings and lovely paintings. We didn’t expect it to be so fancy. Finally the tour ended near the Dolceria (the nuns’ bakery). We decided to get some things to take home. We ordered a cream filled pastry, some small cookies, and a piece of casata cake. The clerk packed the first two items but handed us the casata cake on a plate. Instead of making a fuss we went over to the cloister and ate it there. It had cannoli filling in the middle, was covered in marzipan, and then covered again in thick white sugar icing. It was darn good.
Now it was time to go back to Chiesa del Gesù, another High Baroque style church. It too was a little overwhelming except that it had more frescos and color which helped tone down the experience a little. We were permitted to walk the middle aisle and see the front altars. If we wished to walk the side aisles, see the crypt, or tour the sacristy we would have to pay €5.00 per person. We might come back and do the tour another time.
Finally it was time for lunch. We’d purposely planned this itinerary because it left us close to the Ballaro Market. We choose a place that had a buffet type menu. I got a large grilled squid stuffed with breadcrumbs and a side of cauliflower. Deborah got skewers with grilled swordfish and onions and a side of mushrooms. Surprisingly the food was ice cold and it wasn’t very tasty. It was our first disappointing meal since we’d hit Italy.
After a trip to the supermarket we headed home. We shared the pastry from the nuns for dessert after dinner. It was that big. It turned out to be a choux pastry filled with cannoli cream. It was delicious. We also sampled the cookies. They were like soft biscuits covered in sugar glaze. They had a very distinctive taste that we have yet to identify. They will be the perfect companion for our morning coffee. Those nuns really know their stuff.
Thursday, November 3, 2022
We started the day off by touring the Cattedrale di Palermo. It’s a huge complex that takes up an entire city block. Constructed in 1185 by the Norman King William II it is dedicated to the assumption of the Virgin Mary. Although the church has been continuously expanded and modified over the centuries it still retains much of its Medieval Gothic character.
You can enter the main part of the church for free. If you want to see the bishops rooms, tour the archbishop’s palace, visit the Diocesan museum, climb to the roof top, bow at the royal tombs, gasp at the apse, get down and dirty with the crypt, marvel at the treasury, or descend to the underground rooms there are additional charges. We paid €15.00 per person to see everything. Credit cards are accepted.
Our path through this labyrinth of sights was pre-prescribed. First we climbed a steep set is circular stairs to get to the roof. There’s a lovely view of the city from up there and you can get up close and personal with the Gothic towers. We walked a narrow path from the narthex to the transept, around the main altar and went back down the way we came.
The stairs left us off at the royal tombs. There were four large sarcophagi and two in-wall burials. All were from the 11th and 12th Centuries and all were Normans. One of the burials was Frederick II. There was an amusing story of his life including how he was excommunicated on three separate occasions.
Next was the underground. It was a small cave near the royal tombs described as the crypt of the beneficiaries. There was a hole in the back where a pile of human bones could be seen behind a plexiglass window.
Up next was the church itself. Although built on a grand scale the church was purposely decorated in a very simply style. King William II thought that the outside should be very elaborate, interesting enough for people to want to enter, but the inside should be plain so as not to distract from piety. The church follows a traditional Latin Cross design with a nave and two side aisles. Along the interior of the dividing columns there are statues of saints. Along the sides there are chapels. The only real embellishment was two colorful frescos over the main altar. Much of the front of the church is undergoing restoration so we were unable to see the chapels behind the main altar.
Now it was time to see the treasury. We had to exit the church and re-enter by another door beyond the main altar. It was a typical treasury with a huge number of monstrances, reliquaries, ministerial robes, and jewelry from high church officials.
Eventually we came to a round room with a high Gothic vault. In a large floor to ceiling recess was a 1/10th scale model of the structure that was once there. Called the Tribune of the Cathedral it was a semicircular structure made of marble that had dozens of cutouts containing statues of saints. The full size version must have been an incredible sight. The sign said only that it had been destroyed. No further information was given.
Then we descended down into the crypt. A number of high church officials from the Medieval period were buried there in repurposed Roman era sarcophagi with “modern” lids. A series of ascending steps led to a vaulted room with very high ceilings. There on display were artifacts from Queen Constanza of Aragon. In the central case was her coronation crown. Made in 1220-1222 it was studded with gold and colored precious stones. There were also fragments of the silk dress she wore.
Our last stop in this building was the apse – the part of the church that’s behind the main altar. There were quite a few items on display that could not normally be seen including an illuminated book of Gregorian Chant, giant mosaic candlesticks, and bands of colorful marble.
We walked across the street to another building to start the next part of our adventure. We began with the Museum. This collection started with a large number of Byzantine style paintings and triptychs and a few reliquaries. Then there was a display of inlaid marble and statues from previous versions of the church. The next galleries were full of early Renaissance style paintings.
Up another set of stairs we came into the bishop’s and archbishop’s rooms. The apartments were decorated in a style befitting a king with elaborate frescos, huge paintings, gilded furniture and the like. It reminded us of visiting the Vatican.
After 3.5 hours of touring the wonders of the Cathedral it was time for lunch. We walked to a restaurant near the Teatro Massimo that we’d spied before and sat down to a meal of lasagna and veal cutlets. Veal has been incredibly inexpensive in Sicily – even cheaper than most pasta dishes. It was all quite delicious.
Our new plan was to walk through some of the “new” city and then down to the seaport area. Along the way we found Teatro Garibaldi. It’s home to the Sicilian Orchestra. We bought tickets to a Saturday night concert. We tried to walk along the waterfront but the best we could do was a road that paralleled it. We did find an old, ruined castle. Originally built in the 9th Century Castello Amare was the home of kings until 18th Century. There’s little to see there now.
We’d been thinking of taking a tour to see some of the sights outside of the city and decided to walk over towards the Norman Palace. Tour organizers are always hanging out there trying to entice tourists. When we arrived no one was there to talk with us. Plan B was to walk through the Porta Nuova and get some granitas. The first one tasted so good that we got a second one. I told the clerk that when we show up tomorrow she should remind me to order the large instead of the small.