May 5, 2023
We started our day with a tour of Palermo with our native guide, Maria Graziella. Her enthusiasm for her city was contagious. She recalled days past when the city was controlled by the Mafia and how the local people rebelled and took over their city. Where there were once piazzas filled with cars, there are now beautiful open spaces filled with people, enjoying a coffee, listening to street musicians, or just going about their day. Many of the main streets that were once crowded with cars are now strade pedionale, or pedestrian walkways.
The city is thriving, and enjoying the economic success brought by the excited tourists returning to travel after covid.
We started at the Opera House (You may recall, the steps of the building where Al Pacino, as the Godfather, was shot). As we walked toward the historic crossroads of Palermo, called Quattro Canti, Maria, filled us in on the history of this very old city. Quatro Canti is the intersection of Via Marqueda and Via Vittorio Emanuele, which divides the city into four quadrants. Our next stop was the nearby Convento of Santa Caterina, an active convent from 1311 to 2014, when the few elderly nuns that remained, were moved by the Holy Father to a place where they could be cared for.
There is a beautiful garden, surrounded by a cloister. (photo above) We were able to enter this cloistered space to see the frescoed halls where the nuns lived. Many of the women came here very young resulting from decisions made by their families rather than themselves. They were very well educated and learned many skills. Yet, they were still kept behind these walls all their lives.
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