Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

Even if you don’t have the time to see everything in the old centre there are several places beyond - on the outskirts of the modern city - that warrant investigation. Some, in fact, shouldn’t be missed on any visit to Palermo; others are strictly for fans of the Norman period; and one is decidedly ghoulish, for the strong of stomach only. The third of Palermo’s showpiece museums lies on the edge of La Favorita , a large park around 3km north of Piazza Castelnuovo (bus #106 or #806 from Politeama or Via della Libertà). The Museo Etnografico Pitrè (daily except Fri 9am-8pm; L6000/¬3.10) is the seminal exhibition of Sicilian folklore and culture on the island. There’s all the work traditionally associated with Sicily - a wealth of carts painted with bright scenes from the story of the Paladins, a reconstructed puppet theatre (with performances in the summer; ask at the tourist office), and dozens of the expressive puppets, scenery backdrops and handbills lining the walls. Fascinating, too, are the other Sicilian artefacts, including a whole series of intricately worked terracotta figures, dolls and games, bicycles, painted masks, even a great, flowery iron bedstead.

To track down the rest of central Palermo’s Norman relics entails a lot of evenhandedly fruitless scurrying around the southern and western parts of the city; in any case, much of what survives is often locked up or under restoration. Bus #124 runs west from the Politeama to La Zisa (from the Arabic, el aziz , “magnificent”), a huge palace begun by William I in 1160, with a fine exterior and a rich, well-crafted Islamic interior (Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-1pm; L5000/¬2.58). Closer to the centre, about 1km beyond Porta Nuova at Corso Calatafimi 100, is La Cuba , the remains of a slightly later Norman pavilion that formed part of the same royal park as La Zisa, now tucked inside an army barracks, but well-restored and open to the public (Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-1pm; L4000/¬2.07). The best excursion, however, is south to the eleventh-century church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi (Mon-Sat 9.30-11am & 4-5pm), reachable on bus #211, #226 or #231 from the Stazione Centrale. Just off Corso dei Mille, at Via Cappello 38, this is one of the oldest Norman churches in Sicily, reputedly founded in 1070 by Roger I; its squat tower is topped by a red dome, with a second dome over the apse, while its windows are just narrow slits.

For real attention-grabbing stuff, take bus #327 from Piazza Indipendenza southwest along Via dei Cappuccini as far as Via Pindemonte. Close by, in Piazza Cappuccini, the Convento dei Cappuccini (daily 9am-noon & 3-5pm; L2500/¬1.29) retained its own burial ground for several hundred years, placing its dead in catacombs under the church. Later right up until 1881, others were also interred here. The bodies (some 8000 of them) were preserved by various chemical and drying processes - including the use of vinegar and arsenic baths - and then placed in niches along corridors, dressed in suits of clothes provided for the purpose. Descending into the catacombs is like having a walk-on part in your own horror film. The rough-cut stone corridors are divided according to sex and status, different caverns reserved for men, women, the clergy, doctors, lawyers and surgeons. Suspended in individual niches, the bodies have become vile, contorted, grinning figures - some decomposed beyond recognition, others complete with skin, hair and eyes fixing you with a steely stare. Those not lining the walls lie in stacked glass coffins, and it’s a distinctly unnerving experience to achievement among them. Follow the signs for the sealed-off cave containing the coffin of two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, who died in 1920 but looks like she’s simply asleep, thanks to a series of embalming injections.

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