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Friday, November 4, 2022
Our day started with a trip to the Royal Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1072 the Normans built a castle on this site. Six years later Roger II, the same king who built Palermo’s Cathedral, added the Palatine Chapel. For centuries the palace was the seat of power and private residence to the rulers of Sicily. It’s actually the oldest royal residence in Europe. Since 1946 the palace has been the home of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. Entry costs €19.00 per person. Credit cards are accepted.
The entire palace is in the Gothic style with high vaulted ceilings. The tour starts in the courtyard. From there you can see multiple floors supported by tall columns and characteristic arches. We climbed up one flight of stairs to get to the famed Palatine Chapel. It’s an intimate church contained within the palace. The entryway to the chapel is decorated with large divided frescos depicting secular and non-secular stories.
Entering the the chapel is a breathtaking experience. The interior is decorated in the Eastern Orthodox / Byzantine style and everything is trimmed in highly reflective genuine gold. The walls above the arches tell stories from the Old Testament. The exterior walls show stories from the New Testament. It was relatively easy to figure things out because most everything was labeled in Latin and/or Greek. We spent a lot of time figuring out the stories and identifying the saints. We both learned how to read some Greek when we were in Greece in 2018/19 but thankfully Deborah retained most of her knowledge.
After leaving the chapel we wended our way through the rest of the public rooms in the palace. The original stone walls were originally covered with frescos and paintings but now most were just plain stone. Fortunately, a few rooms were preserved with their original Byzantine decorations. Over the years subsequent owners have redecorated many of the rooms. Styles varied from Neoclassical, Eastern (Asian), and Rococo.
The tour concluded in the palace gardens. There was an array of plantings from all around the world. We would imagine that there would be some floral arrangements in season.
Next we headed to another UNESCO site: San Giovanni degli Eremiti. It was just a few blocks away. A church and a monastery existed there since at least the 6th Century AD. The site was razed by Saracens and may have been converted to a Mosque. In any event the building shows distinct Arab influences. When the Normans conquered the area King Roger II had the site restored and gave it to Benedictine Monks.
Today the church has lost all of its previous luster. The building consists of a vaulted entryway and a small church. We found small remnants of frescos on one wall. Outside there is a lovely cloister with a double colonnade made of marble with Corinthian capitals. On the other side of the cloister there was a small monastery. The two room building is now a museum containing a variety of nonsecular relics.
When we took the free tour on Tuesday our guide had recommended a place where she said we could get the best arancina in town. We went there for lunch today. Unlike most places our selections were cooked to order. They arrived hot and very crispy. The rice had been cooked with chicken stock and there was ample filling in the middle. These really were the best ones we’ve had.
Fortuitously our favorite granita place was next door. The clerk remembered us from our previous visits and made sure to recommend the large size. It was very amusing. We had intended to visit the Capuchin Catacombs after lunch but learned only then that they closed at 12:30 pm and didn’t reopen again until 3:00 pm. We didn’t want to kill that much time so we went back to the apartment for the day by way of the sweet shop at Chiesa di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria. We got some cookies and several cream filled pastries. Those nuns seem to have our number.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Our destination was the Capuchin Catacombs. They are reputed to be different from other catacombs – even other Capuchin ones. There is a church associated with the complex called Santa Maria della Pace. It’s a lovely little church that has many original details from the early 1700s. The large altar is carved from a dark wood with spiral cut columns. There are many large funerary monuments carved from huge blocks of marble and the paintings all appear to be early Baroque.
On the other side of the catacombs there is a large cemetery with a large number of family plots, elaborate markers, and mausoleums. The cemetery is intimately associated with the catacombs. The catacombs/monastery sit in the middle. We paid €3.00 per person to enter. Cash only.
In 1597 the monks outgrew their cemetery. They decided to utilize the ancient caves under the church and excavated through a hole behind the main altar. They intended to move the bodies from the old cemetery to the new catacombs. Upon exhumation they noticed that many of their brethren had naturally mummified, were incredibly well preserved, and were completely identifiable. The Capuchins believed that this was an act of God and so they decided to display the bodies and propped them up in niches along the walls.
The catacombs were originally intended just for the monks as but word of their remarkable ability to preserve bodies spread more and more people wanted to be buried there. Often rich people requested to be displayed with particular clothes or to have their clothes periodically changed. As long as the families of the deceased continue to support the monks the dead were maintained in a prominent place. Once donations ceased they were often moved to boxes or shelves to make room for other rich patrons.
Entry to the catacombs is down just one flight of stairs. What you are faced with can easily be described as creepy. Pinned up in vertical niches along the walls are dead bodies fully dressed, often in fancy clothing. There are several long tunnels that go on and on. There’s a section for men, women, children, families, and monks. There’s also quite a few bodies lying flat in horizontal niches or in wooden boxes. Not all are perfectly preserved but in the vast majority it is possible to see features like hair, facial skin, eyelashes, and nails. It’s quite a sight. Photography is not permitted but I managed to capture a couple of shots when no one was around.
Afterwards, on our way back to the apartment to rest up before tonight’s concert we were on the lookout for an ATM. There are many in the old town area where the tourists tend to congregate but they have outrageous fees. My bank will refund any normal ATM fees but these banks were trying to charge some sort of conversion fee that amounted to about 15%. My bank won’t return fees that only an idiot would pay, AKA graft and corruption! Since ancient times catacombs were always located outside of the city and consequently we were now in the new part of town. We tried several ATMs that still wanted to charge about 5% but we held out until we finally found one that didn’t change anything at all – not even a typical ATM fee. Caveat emptor!
Several days ago we purchased tickets for a concert tonight. The concert was held at the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi. Like Teatro Massimo it was constructed shortly after the reunification of Italy. The building is in the Neo-classical style. There are large Pompeian style frescos around the proscenium and around the main dome. Above the proscenium is a colonnade that is flanked by Roman style statues. Sadly, the decorations have deteriorated and the inside of the dome is almost completely bare. The theater is in need of some serious restoration work.
The theater was originally called Teatro Municipal Politeama but when Garibaldi died in 1882 it was renamed in his honor. Since 2001 it has been the home of the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, who were performing in tonight’s concert. It was an all Brahms affair. The program included the Double Concerto for Violin and Cello and the Second Symphony.
The Double Concerto was first. The soloists did a fairly good job but it was clear that their background was in chamber music and not as virtuoso soloists. The duo played an unaccompanied encore. It was the Passacaglia for Violin and Viola by Bach/Halvorsen.
The orchestra was clearly more familiar with the Symphony. They played with much more spirit and abandon. Kudos to the viola section and the principle french horn for holding up their end. There were some messy spots but most of that could be blamed on the inadequacy of the conductor.
All in all it was a fun evening of good music in a beautiful hall. We would definitely have preferred to see something in the Teatro Massimo but the theater was dark the entire time we were here.
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Today is our last full day in Palermo. During our stay we had considered traveling outside the city to see some other notable sights. We could have taken a tour to see Temple Segesta, an Ancient Greek Temple in excellent condition that has never been damaged by earthquakes. Those tours usually include Erice, a beautiful Medieval town, and the salt flats. These places are not accessible by public transportation. We could have gone hiking on Mount Pellegrino or gone to nearby Monreale to see the magnificent Medieval church there. Sadly, we just didn’t have the time and didn’t want to kill ourselves by overdoing. We’ll have some things to do the next time we’re in the area.
In the morning we went to the Archeological Museum but just before the museum is a lovely Baroque church. We’d visited before but as we approached we heard the sound of the organ. We sat in the pews for a few minutes and listened. We left just as the service was starting.
We’d seen some negative comments about the Archeological Museum here but we’d say they were completely unjustified. It is a little on the small side but it has some fantastic artifacts and some incredibly interesting information. The museum is almost entirely focused on ancient populations that were in Sicily including the Greeks, Carthaginians, Arabs, and Romans. To get the most out of the experience you have to read a lot but we didn’t mind. A great deal of the museum was dedicated to the Greek civilization and the temples from Selinunte, a city in the Southwest corner of the island. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful fountain in the entry way that is replete with a bunch of large turtles.
For lunch we tried some genuine Sicilian pizza. I don’t care for the stuff we get in the States because the crust is just too thick and dense. Here the crust is more like risen bread. It makes all the difference. It was really good.
Considering it was our last day we made one last trip to the nuns for pastries. We found a couple of new things to try. We may have gone a bit overboard but nothing we’ve had there has ever disappointed.
