Page 80 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily
P. 80
78 P ALERMO AREA B Y AREA
6 Catacombe dei arcades, which once enclosed 1180. It too stood in a
Cappuccini small double lancet windows, large park, the Genoardo,
lend it elegance. Two square surrounded by an artificial
Via Cappuccini. Tel 091652 41 56 towers stand on the pond, and served as a pavilion
or 329415 04 62. Open 9am–12:30pm, short sides of the in which to spend the hot
3–5:30pm. Closed Oct–Mar: castle. On the afternoons. This palace was
Sun pm. &
ground floor is the so famous that Boccaccio
Sala della Fontana used it as the setting for one
The catacombs of the (Fountain Hall), one of the tales in the Decameron
Capuchins contain of the rooms with (Day 5, no 6).
the bodies – some a cross plan and The rectangular construction
mummified, others exedrae (semicircular acquires rhythm and move
skeletons – of the recess) on three ment from the pointed blind
prelates and well sides. The cross arcading. The interior ran
todo citizens of vault above is around an atrium that may
Palermo. They are connected to the have been open to the air.
divided according side recesses by The recesses under the small
to sex, profession means of a series towers originally would have
and social standing, of muqarnas (small housed fountains.
wearing their best stalactite vaults typical
clothes, some of of Arab architecture).
which are moth Along the walls is a fine 9 Villa Giulia
eaten. Visitors can mosaic frieze. Water Via Abramo Lincoln.
see the cells gushing from the
where the corpses Embalmed body in fountain runs along a Despite its name, the Villa Giulia
were put to dry. the crypt gutter from the wall to is not a house but an impressive
At the end of the the pave ment and Italianate garden designed in
stairway is the body of the first then pours into two square fish 1778 outside the city walls by
friar “buried” here, Fra’ Silvestro ponds. The air vents channelled Nicolò Palma and then enlarged
da Gubbio, who died in 1599. the warm air towards the Sala in 1866. It was named after
In 1881, interment in the della Fontana, where it then Giulia Avalos Guevara, wife of
catacombs ceased, but on became cooler. The second the viceroy, and was the city’s
display in the Cappella dell’ floor of the palace is home to first public park. Its square plan
Addolorata is the body of a the Museo d’Arte Islamia. is divided by roads decorated
little girl who died in 1920 with statues, such as the marble
and was so skilfully embalmed image of the “Genius of Palermo”
that she seems asleep. In the 8 La Cuba and the statues representing
outdoor cemetery behind the Corso Calatafimi 100. Tel 091590 299. Glory Vanquishing Envy and
catacombs is the tomb of Open 9am–6:30pm Mon–Sat, Abundance Driving Out Famine.
Giuseppe di Lampedusa. 8am–1pm Sun & hols. & The roads converge centrally in
an area with four Pompeianstyle
7 Castello della William II ordered this niches by Giuseppe Damiani
magnificent Fatimitestyle
Almeyda decorated with frescoes
Zisa Norman palace in great need of restoration.
to be built in
Piazza Zisa 1. Tel 091652 02 69.
Open 9am–7pm Mon–Sat, 9am–
1:30pm Sun & hols. Museo d’Arte
Islamica: Open same as the Castello
della Zisa. &
This remarkable palace, built
in 1165–7, once overlooked a
pond and was surrounded by
a large park with many streams
and fish ponds. Sadly, the Zisa
Castle now stands in the middle
of an ugly fringe area of Palermo.
After years of neglect, the castle
has now been restored and
once again merits the name
given to it by the Arabs – aziz,
or splendid. The handsome
exterior gives the impression of The distinctive Fatimite architecture of La Cuba, used by Boccaccio as the setting for one of
a rectangular fortress; the blind the tales in the Decameron
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p202 and pp210–11
078-079_EW_Sicily.indd 78 11/3/16 2:06 PM
