I only spent two days in Palermo, but for my feeling it was like I was there for a week. At least I tried to squeeze one week of sightseeing into two days that I had at hand. I fell in love with the city as soon as the taxi driver dropped me off. I didn't like it that much before as I had a couple of nearly death experiences on the way which my taxi driver didn't consider like that at all. It was a normal drive for him while I was praying for the ride to finally stop.
Anyway, all ended well for me and he dropped me off in the old town. I was on the Via Vittorio Emanuele only 5 minutes walk from my hotel. When I saw the street I knew I will love the city. First of all, I ordered un cappuccino, un cornetto, and l'acqua which used about all the words that I know in Italian. Just kidding, I can get around quite well, but I should still start learning more as I love Italian! I took a moment and enjoyed the buzz of the ancient city before starting my day. There was a lot on my itinerary, so I had to time to lose.
Palermo is well known for its beautiful churches where you can see the influence of various cultures. You don't need to be religious to visit them as I'm convinced that their architecture will leave everyone in awe. Let's start with Santa Caterina where you will find the most amazing church, a monastery and a beautiful garden with a bakery. You can reach the garden for free from the square, but for the rest of the tour you will have to purchase a ticket.
You will get the best view of the garden from the monastery, so I do recommend to take your time and visit the entire site. You can walk around pretty much everywhere, but the rooms of monastery are closed, so you can't enter that part. I'm not sure why as no nuns live there anymore, but even without this part be ready to spend a couple of hours in the complex. It was considered one of the most important monasteries in Palermo as nuns were coming from wealthy and noble families. This was new to me as I thought that in the past the most important task of a noble woman was to find a husband and continue the line.
I couldn't get any pastry as all of them were full of cream which would make me sick, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the garden. There were benches around the garden and all of them were full of people enjoying their treats. I took another l'acqua instead.
The exterior of the church gives that typical Italian flair. If you visited some churches in Italy then you know that the simple exterior doesn't say anything about its interior which is usually much more grand than you would expect. You will find the information about Santa Caterina on the poster in front of the church. There are not many signs inside.
The church was built in the 16th century which makes it kind of young 馃槉
On the same square you will find two more churches: Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio and Di San Cataldo. I didn't visit these two as I didn't make it for their short opening time. Another reason to visit Palermo again. There really are churches behind every corner and you can't possibly visit them all.
Let's go inside!
I had no idea that there is something like Sicilian Baroque. Well, there is. It is similar to Spanish Baroque as the decoration was done when Sicily was under Spanish rule. Actually, many Sicilian noble families have roots in Spain too.
There are many smaller altars around the church. Even though they are smaller they all have so many intricate details and tons of marble decorations.
Prepare yourself for stiff neck as it will take long for you to be able to remove your eyes from this ceiling...
These arches are a perfect example of Sicilian Baroque. It's the colour and material that is used. Each decoration symbolizes some biblical happening which I would have no idea about. I could only recognize a couple of them.
Yes, yes, we will go upstairs too!
When you get to the high altar you don't even know where to put your eyes. There is so much to see and all together it looks stunning.
I know that we could stay and admire the ceiling and high altar for hours, but it's time to go up. On the way, there are some relics which I always find scary and walk by as fast as possible. Just the idea of a relic gives me chills.
The upper floor was used solely by the nuns as an enclosed gallery and choir. They would sit behind the metal grates to attend the services without being seen by the public.
This part is today open to the public as there are no nuns living in the Dominican monastery anymore and it's interesting to walk around the place that was their home and where they spent their days as they were not going out. Some items, such as this piano are left there for people to see.
In some places it looks like their own private little church...
The stairs are narrow, but quite short, so not a problem for claustrophobics like me...
Their view of the church was so much better from this perspective...
And the ceiling is much closer 馃槉
I have seen so many churches in my life that I can't even count them, and this one definitely ranks in my top three. I could spend there all day and still miss so many details.
There is a terrace which you can climb and enjoy the views of Palermo. I didn't do that as climbed the stairs of two other terraces that I will show you next time. Those places are so close to each other that I preferred to continue with my itinerary instead of climbing that staircase.
Thank you and until next time!
