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Palermo Monuments
Teatro dei Pupi
Figli d'arte Cuticchio
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Mimmo Cuticchio is considered today the master of Cunto: puppeteer, builder, actor. Puppets are family art: Mimmo is in fact the son of the puppeteer Giacomo Cuticchio, who in the 1950s wandered around Sicily with a mobile theater aboard a truck. Cuticchio in 1973 opened the Teatro dei Pupi Santa Rosalia in Palermo, and in 1977 he founded the association "Sons of Art Cuticchio", which aims to safeguard the art of the Opera dei Pupi. His son Giacomo works with him and has chosen to devote himself to music. As an actor, Mimmo Cuticchio appeared in the film "The Godfather - Part III" by Francis Ford Coppola and in "Evidence for a Sicilian Tragedy" by John Turturro.
Teatro Massimo
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The construction of the largest italian opera house started on 12 January 1874, but was stopped for eight years from 1882 until 1890. Finally, on 16 May 1897, twenty-two years after the laying of the foundation stone, the fourth largest opera house in Europe at the time — after the Royal Opera House in London, the Palais Garnier in Paris, and the K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna— was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi's Falstaff.
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The Capo Market
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Specialities, colours, aromas, flavour, voices, movement, cordiality. These are just some of the words that characterize one of the most important historical markets in Palermo: the CAPO.
The market can still be found today in the upper part of the ancient Arab quarter of the "Schiavoni" (Harat-as-Saqalibah), later called "Seralcadi"in the norman age, that stood right at the intersection of Via Sant'Agostino, Via Beati Paoli and Porta Carini where it formed a small square called Piazza Capo. It extends along Via Carini and Via Beati Paoli (in the honour of the mysterious hooded sect of the 1600s), the Via Sant'Agostino, Via Bandiera and Via Cappuccinelle. The name of some streets in the neighbourhood are really characteristic, in particular: via Sedie Volanti, Via Scippateste and Via Gioia Mia.
(from "Capo Mercato" of ECU European Culture University)
The Cathedral
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Palermo Cathedral is a catholic cathedral church. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. As an architectural complex, it is characterized by the presence of different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th century.
The church was erected in 1185 by Walter Ophamil (or Walter of the Mill), the Anglo-Norman archbishop of Palermo and King William II's minister, on the area of an earlier Byzantine basilica.
(from wikipedia.org)
Quattro Canti
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Quattro Canti, officially known as Piazza Vigliena, is a Baroque square in Palermo.
It was laid out on the orders of the Viceroys between 1608-1620 by Giulio Lasso and Mariano Smiriglio at the crossing of the two principal streets in Palermo, the Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
(Wikipedia)
.... on request you can also see .....
The Praetorian Fountain
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It was created in 1554 by the Tuscan sculptor Francesco Camilliani as a decoration for a Florentine villa. It was subsequently purchased by the Palermo Senate for 20 or 30.000 scudi, and reached Palermo in 644 pieces and then reconstructed differently from the original design.
The fountain has an elliptical structure with concentric basins arranged on three levels; stairs and statues alternate according to a classical, symmetrical pattern. The fountain, planned for a space which was different from its current location, was adapted by Camillo Camilliani, son of Francesco.
The four basins of the first level, with statuary groups of lying figures, represent Palermo’s rivers: Oreto, Papireto, Gabriele, and Maredolce; the faces of the Genius of Palermo, St. Rosalia, and the Praetorian Eagle are all depicted in the fencing. A rich sculptural repertoire is representing mythological deities, monsters, animals, dolphins, harpies, and mermaids.
The open nakedness of the figures displayed did not fail to upset the minds of citizens, who renamed this site “Piazza della Vergogna” (“Square of Shame”). The gate, designed by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, was placed here in 1858.
(https://turismo.comune.palermo.it/palermo-welcome-luogo-dettaglio.php?tp=68&det=17&id=286#)