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Palermo
 

Palermo (Palermo in Italian, Palermu, Palemmu, Paliermu or Paliemmu in Sicilian) is the principal city and administrative seat of the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy as well as the capital of the Province of Palermo. Inhabitants of Palermo in Italian are referred to as Palermitani or poetically Panormiti.

History

Palermo was founded in the 8th century BC by Phoenician tradesmen around a natural harbour on the north-western coast of Sicily. The Phoenician name for the city may have been Zîz, but Greeks called it Panormus (see also List of traditional Greek place names), meaning all-port, because of its fine natural harbour. It should be noted however that the city was never a Greek city-state, but was later part of the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire . Palermo is widely considered to be the most conquered city in the world, as shown in the following article.

Palermo remained a Phoenician city until the First Punic War (264-241 BC), when Sicily fell under Roman rule. The Roman period was one of comparative calm, Palermo coming under the provincial administration in Syracuse. When the Roman Empire was split, Sicily and Palermo came under the rule of the Eastern Byzantine Empire.

In the 9th century, Sicily was divided into two prefectures by the Byzantines. The two prefects went to war with each other, and Euphimius, the winner, dreamt of reuniting the Roman empire. However, he lacked an army, so he asked the Arab Aghlabids rulers of North Africa, at the time the up-and-coming power in the Mediterranean, to lend him theirs. Within a week of the Arabs' arrival in Palermo in 827, Euphimius died mysteriously, and they declined to leave. By 878 all of Sicily, except for a few Byzantine enclaves near Taormina, was controlled by the Saracens. In 905 they captured those too. The Arab rulers moved Sicily's capital to Palermo where it has been ever since. Under Muslim's dominion Palermo became an important commercial and cultural center, a flourishing city broadly known in all Arab world - it is said that it had more than 300 mosques. But they were also years of tolerance: Christians and Jews were permitted to follow their own credo.

In 1060 the Normans launched a crusade against the Muslim emirate of Sicily, taking Palermo on January 10 1072 and the whole island by 1091. The resulting blend of Norman and Arab culture fostered a unique hybrid style of architecture as can be seen* in the Palatine Chapel, the church San Giovanni degli Eremiti and the Zisa.

Sicily in 1194 fell under the control of the Holy Roman Empire. Palermo was the preferred city of the Emperor Frederick II. After an interval of Angevin rule (1266-1282), Sicily came under the house of Aragon and later, in (1479), the kingdom of Spain.

Sicily's unification (1734) with the Bourbon-ruled kingdom of Naples as the kingdom of the Two Sicilies inflicted a devastating blow on the elite of Palermo, as the city was reduced to just another provincial city, the royal court residing in Naples. Palermo rebelled in 1848 and held out against the Neapolitan crown until May 1849.

The Italian Risorgimento and Sicily's annexation (1860) to the kingdom of Italy gave Palermo a second chance. It was once again the administrative centre of Sicily, and there was a certain economic and industrial development.

Palermo survived almost the entire fascist period unscathed, but during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 it suffered heavy damage.

The importance of Palermo got another boost when Sicily became (1947) an autonomous region with extended self-rule. But any improvement was thwarted by the rising power of the Mafia, which still today is a dramatic feature of the city, as well as the whole Southern Italy.

Palermo is a city with monumental problems, but is also a city of almost three millennia of history, beautiful palaces and churches, colourful markets, marvelous food and a distinctive cultural identity.

Demographics

Because Sicily is not as prosperous as the mainland Italian regions, legal immigrants and guest workers rarely make headway into Palermo but Sicily is a natural port of call for illegal immigrants and especially those from Northern and Inner Africa. Even if the immigrant population is not taken into account, the city is one of the fastest growing in Italy with those under 14 still outnumbering those over 65.The "Palermitani" are a proud and hard working class.

(urban area: 1,064,000)
Year Population
1450 c. 30,000
1650 c. 135,000
1800 202,800
1830 171,100
1850 178,900
1880 236,300
1900 295,600
1946 416,500
2005 720,000

Main sights

Palermo has a noteworthy architectural heritage and is notable for its many Norman buildings.

Churches

  • The Cathedral of Palermo (a former mosque turned into a church from 1185).
  • San Giovanni degli Eremiti (1132).
  • Martorana (Santa Maria dell'Ammiragliato, 1143).
  • San Cataldo (12th century).
  • Santa Maria della Gangia.
  • San Giuseppe dei Teatini.
  • Oratorio di San Lorenzo.
  • Oratorio del Rosario.
  • Santa Teresa alla Kalsa derives its name from an Arab term meaning elected. The church, constructed in 1686-1706 over the former emir's residence, is one of the most outstanding examples of Sicilian Baroque. It has a single, airy nave, with stucco decorations from the early 18th century.
  • Santa Maria dello Spasimo was built in 1506 and later turned into a hospital. For this temple Raphael painted his famous Sicilia's Spasimo, now in the Museo del Prado of Madrid. The church today is a fascinating air-open ruin, which occasionally houses exhibitions and musical shows.
  • the Church of the Jesus (Chiesa del Gesù) was built by the Jesuits in the centre of the city from 1564, over a pre-existing convent of Basilian monks. The edifice was further enlarged starting from 1591, becoming one of the most relevant examples of Sicilian Baroque, though retaining some severe late Renaissance fashion. The church was heavily damaged after the 1943 bombings, which destroyed most of the frescoes. The interior has a Latin cross plan with a nave and two aisles, characterized by a particularly rich decoration of marbles, tarsias and stuccoes, especially in the St. Anne chapel. At the right is the Casa Professa, with a 1685 portal and a precious 18th century cloister. The Church of the Jesus is home to the Municipal Library, placede here in 1775.
  • The church of St. Francis of Assisi, erected in what was once the market district of the city. It was built between 1255 and 1277 in the site of two pre-existing churches, and was largely renovated in the 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th centuries, the latter after an earthquake. After the 1943 bombings, the church was restored to its Mediaeval appearance, which now includes part of the original building such as part of the right side, the apses and the Gothic portal in the façade. The interior has a typical Gothic flavour, with a nave and two aisles separated by two rows of cylindrical pilasters. Some of the chapels are in Renaissance style, as well as the late 16th century side portals. The church includes precious sculptures by Antonio and Giacomo Gagini, and Francesco Laurana, plus a noteworthy wooden choir dating from the 16th century. Of note are also the allegorical statues by Giacomo Serpotta (1723), also author of the stucco decoration.
  • The church of the Magione (officially church of the Holy Trinity), an ancient example of Norman architecture. The church was founded in 1191 by Matteo d'Ajello, who donated it to the Cistercian monks. However, six years later the conquering German Emperor Henry VI gave it to the Teutonic Order, which detained it until the 15th century. The edifice has mantained the sober austerity of the origins, mainly thanks to the restoration that followed the 1943 bombardments. The façade show a precious series of small blind arcades with double lintels, which are repeated to parallel the triple apse structure. The nave and the two aisles are separated by marble columns supporting ogival arcades; the floor houses the tombstone of members of the Teutonic Order. Interesting is also the 12th century cloister, with small double columns with very fine capitals which were allegely executed by the same craftsem which were later responsible of that of the Cathedral of Monreale.

Palaces and museums

Theatres

  • The Teatro Massimo ("Greatest Theatre") was opened in 1897. Closed for renovation from 1974 until 1997, it is now carefully restored and has an active schedule. Enrico Caruso sang in a performance of La Gioconda during the opening season, returning for Rigoletto at the very end of his career.

  • The Teatro Politeama was built between 1867 and 1874. Nowadays, the town's Gallery of Modern Art is accommodated here.

Places

  • Quattro Canti is a small place at the crossing of the ancient main roads (now: Corso Vittorio Emmanuele and Via Maqueda) dividing the town into its quarters. The palaces at the corner have diagonal baroque facades so that the place gets an almost octogonal form.

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Palermo".

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