In our previous post we sailed from Cefalù to Palermo, strolled around Vucciria market, spend almost a day in Palermo Cathedral and had a Michelin star dinner at MEC restaurant.
Today we get up early for a 3 km city hike towards the Catacombe dei Cappuccini.
The cemetery of Palermo’s Capuchin monastery ran out of space in the 16th century and monks began to excavate crypts below it. Initially the catacombs were intended only for deceased friars. However, in later centuries it became a status symbol to be entombed in the Capuchin catacombs. In their wills, local luminaries would ask to be preserved in certain clothes, or even have their clothes changed at regular intervals. The catacombs were maintained through donations from the relatives of the deceased.
The catacombs contain about 8,000 corpses and 1,252 mummies that line the walls. The halls are divided by category: men, women, virgins, children, priests, monks, and professionals. Click on thumbnail below.
It is macabre experience to “walk among the dead”. Over the entrance arch it reads: “You are what we were. We are what you will become”. We feel a strange mixture of disgust and delight looking at the decomposed corpses, of which some still have their skin and hair. Not a place you want to be locked in at night.
Happy faces eating in the shade of Puerto Nuova; it was soooo good!
The Royal Palace stands on a site of a Phoenician fortress dating from 1000BC. The Arabs had built a fortress on the existing foundations that was later remodelled and expanded upon during the reign of the Normans (1000-1200). Towers, treasuries, courtyards, chapels, and ballrooms were added at various times, according to taste and culture of its successive rulers, resulting in a mix of different styles.
Byzantine chants are added to the above video. Note the Byzantine mosaics; the wooden ceiling with muqarnas (three-dimensional architectural decorative element), and the frescos, similar to the church in Cefalù (https://www.twobatsea.com/cefalu-sicily/), but more abundant.
Next we visit the Santa Catherina Church and Monastery complex, where you can easily spend an afternoon. The Roman Catholic female convent (monastery) was build in 1310 dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. We visit the monastery’s bakery first.
Sicily’s baking, even though it has its roots in ancient times such as the Greek colonization or the Arab domination, was born in medieval times, in cloistered convents. The bakery of Santa Caterina was the place of the monastery in charge of making biscuits, stuffed buns, pancakes, jams and so on. The sale of sweets represented an important source of income for the survival of the monastery.
In 1532, the opinion arose that the present church no longer matched the allure and standing of the monastery and it was decided to refurbish and enlarge the church, and the new church was inaugurated 64 years later.
The church’s interior with a dazzling rich decoration of stucco details, statues, coloured marbles, frescoes and paintings. Note the grated windows in the side walls, accessible by interior corridors allowing nuns to receive confession and take the eucharist.
The mosaics are a world apart. Look closely, they are all 3D. Where can we find this craftmenship today?
We had booked an “evening dinner street food tour” and had to rush to Teatro Massimo, the meeting point and start of the tour, but that is for the next blog.
Thank you for following our journey and reading our stories; Liza and Frits.