Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise visit the Sicilian Capital Palermo to unearth much of its history and the nearby countryside.
We had fond memories of our first visit to Sicily in 2002, an exciting road trip traversing a good part of the east of the island before journey’s end at the stunning hilltop town of Taormina. Now, not before time, we were back to soak up more of the avalanche of colours, scents and light that make this particular Italian landscape so unique, and try to better understand what the great German writer Goethe meant when he said, ‘Sicily is the key to everything’.
This time, for contrast in our week-long stay, we decided upon a busy city visit, followed by a more tranquil countryside experience. For the former it had to be the capital Palermo, a vibrant place of lively – if not chaotic – street life, gastronomic delights, and a unique cultural heritage shaped by centuries of foreign domination.
Giovanni Falcone
We arrived on an important day in the calendar of the modern-day city, the anniversary of the murder of anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone – along with his wife Francesca and their three security guards – whose car was blown up by the Sicilian Mafia on the highway to Palermo airport in 1992.
Thanks to Falcone, the shadow of Costa Nostra over the island has hugely shortened. Amongst the many commemorations in the city was to be a special service in his memory in the beautiful Baroque San Domenico church – where he is also buried – just a couple of minutes’ walk from our accommodation. So, we quickly deposited our bags and went to have a look around in advance of the event.
San Domenico has won the sobriquet ‘Pantheon of illustrious Sicilians’ for the large number of prominent island figures interred here. We quickly spotted the tomb of the great writer, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of ‘The Leopard’ (widely regarded as one of the great historical novels), and an impressive bust of the great 17th century painter Pietro Novelli.
Then, not far away, we found the tomb of Falcone, lying underneath the funeral monument of another celebrated man of the law, the 19th century jurist and politician Emerico Amari.
Over the headstone of Falcone’s splendid white marbled tomb was draped a huge red-ribboned wreath, while red and white roses were placed on its base. The inscription reads ‘Giovanni Falcone – Magistrato, Eroe della lotta mafia’ – magistrate, hero of the fight against the Mafia. But it was the poignant handwritten notes, scattered around the base of the tomb, that caught the eye.
One read: ‘ Dear Giovanni – You did so much for us sacrificing your life and you’ve been our champion against the Mafia. Thanks for all you have done…’
This was typical of the scores of heartfelt tributes. Later in our stay, while walking round the harbour front, we would discover a striking memorial to Falcone and his great friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino (also killed by the Cosa Nostra) by way of a giant mural, a picture of the two in a happy moment, covering the entire side of a high-rise apartment block.
After our visit to the church it was time to unpack and settle into our resting place for the next three nights. Now the bald description ‘bed and breakfast’ covers many varied types of accommodation, but La Bella Palermo, in the heart of the city’s historical centre, is at the top end of that spectrum.
La Bella Palermo
Palermo is as well-endowed as any Italian city for its palazzi – grand residences, of private or public kind. Dating back to the 1300s, the building housing La Bella Palermo was once a fortified outpost overlooking the sea. Then in the 16th century a powerful Spanish family, the Requesens, transformed it into the fabulous Palazzo Pantelleria, whose grand facade was redesigned in the 18th century in the Rococo style by the leading architect of the day, Giovanni Del Frago.
Palazzo Pantelleria went into decline in subsequent centuries, very much rundown by the turn of the millennium. Then in 2001 a former Milanese actor, Massimo Cazzaniga, bought its main floor – Piano Nobile – and started to transform it.
A compulsive collector since the age of 15, he poured his energy, his passion and his money – along with his hundreds of antiques – into shaping this floor of the palazzi into La Bella Palermo, the beautiful place it is today, a throwback to that grand age of Spanish rule. For Signor Cazzaniga, this would be his Sicilian retreat, but also a ’Home Museum’ where he was finally able to display his vast collection of furniture and fine art.
Now five spacious guest rooms with ensuite bedrooms enable visitors to rest comfortably and conveniently, but also, while pottering around La Bella Palermo’s public rooms, feel themselves transported back in time.
Signor Cazzaniga hired local craftsmen to paint gorgeous ceiling frescos. The walls are covered with paintings, many of them portraits, from different centuries – the provenance of most of these fine gentlemen and ladies, statesmen and soldiers mainly unknown. The tables overflow with fascinating sculptures, objets d’art, brass weights, opera glasses and curios of all shapes and sizes.
In The Blue Salon, where grand balls where once hosted, a magnificent antique Murano chandelier hangs from the ceiling, while a large statue of the Greek god Pan, playing his pipe, stands by the blue curtains next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The walls, full of portraits, a tapestry and a fixed ornate candle, are painted in a lovely shade of eggshell blue.
The Yellow Salon, which adjoined our guestroom, is even more richly decorated, with carpets from the East, 18th century chairs, tables and cabinets, and a host of intriguing historical portraits. The Library, with views of the sea, has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, with volume upon volume of Italian novels and art books. Here you can ascend a wrought iron spiral staircase and look at Signor Cazzaniga’s splendid model boat collection, and examine his antique globe and telescope.
In our room we slept on a comfortable four-poster bed, surrounded by stylish antique furniture and with our walls covered once more by a staggering collection of portraits and paintings, especially of the religious variety. Our vast bathroom, on two levels, was a more modern contrast, white marbled, light, with bath on the lower level and hand basin and walk-in shower on the upper.
The terrace outside, replete with a splendid array of pots and plants, was beautifully maintained and had excellent views over the nearby streets and down to the sea. In the kitchen every morning we would enjoy a healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, yoghurt and croissants – the latter acquired fresh from the local baker’s by Francesco, Signor Cazzaniga’s nephew, who oversees the running of La Bella Palermo.
Francesco, who divides his time between Palermo, Catania and Milan, is a successful entrepreneur who specializses in helping start-up businesses. He was a splendid host, delighted to show off his uncle’s creation and keen to point us in the right direction for all that Palermo had to offer.
He went way beyond his call of duty, personally escorting us to San Domenico church, and then taking us on a fascinating tour of three of Palermo’s unique oratorios – small chapels or prayer rooms, often attached to the bigger church (as with San Domenico), renowned for their elaborate Baroque stucco decorations and housing some superb paintings. In one of them – Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Cita – we gazed in wonder at an ornate and remarkably detailed depiction of the 16th century naval Battle of Lepanto, a crucial defeat for the Ottoman Empire, showing all the horrors of war.
Palazzo Lanza Tomasi
Francesco also gained us an entrée into one of the finest palazzi in Palermo – the 16th century Palazzo Lanza Tomasi, overlooking the seafront, the home of Nicoletta Polo Lanza Tomasi, the Duchess of Palma di Montechiaro. Nicoletta’s late husband Gioacchino was the adopted son of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of ‘The Leopard’ whose tomb we had already visited in San Domenico Church.
The great writer bought this property in the late 1940s (after his own palazzo was destroyed in the war) and lived here until his death in 1957. The piano nobile houses his library, his spirit still lingering among the comfortable sofas and thousands of novels and history books as it has remained largely intact since his death. In a separate room, excitingly, we were able to view the original, handwritten manuscript of The Leopard – turned down by two publishers, and only published by the Milanese house Feltrinelli after Giuseppe had died. Many will remember Visconti’s great 1963 film version starring Burt Lancester and Claudia Cardinale; the recent Netflix mini-series, on the other hand, is unlikely to live long in the memory.
It was but one stop on the Duchess’s fascinating guided tour of her stupendous home. This petite, energetic, dark-haired lady led us up the grand marble staircase and into the South-West wing, where the central hall has an amazing frescoed ceiling dating from the 19th century, depicting scenes from a harem. On one side of the hall is the Mediterranean Map Room which houses a fine collection of British nautical charts from the 1870s.
The artwork throughout the palazzo is extraordinary, from regal portraits of past ancestors to a Barocci (Italian Renaissance painter) – and even a Picasso. One painting amused us greatly – a chubby-faced, fair-haired lady in a black dress with a string of pearls round her neck. She bore an uncanny resemblance to a recent male British prime minister!
It was just as important, however, to view the luxuriant terraced garden, where, mint, basil, parsley and bay leaves mingle with numerous tropical plants, together with the spacious tiled kitchen, with polished pans hanging from the walls. That’s because Nicoletta has achieved fame at home and abroad for her hugely popular class – ‘A Day cooking with the Duchess’ – in which she teaches her students how to create mouthwatering Sicilian dishes, taking them through every step in the culinary process, right from selecting the meat or fish in the local market (take a look on YouTube).
Chiaramonte Steri and the Spanish Inquisition
In the three days we spent in Palermo we must have covered fifteen to twenty miles on foot, seeking out the cultural highlights that best told the story of the city (and island’s) history – a history of 13 foreign invasions, with the Greeks, Romans, Normans, Byzantines and Spanish imposing their influence the most.
It was the latter who were responsible for one of the most evocative places we visited. The forbidding, Gothic palazzo Chiaramonte Steri, built in 1307 for a noble family, became the headquarters of the Spanish inquisition in the 17th century. Now a museum, you can visit the cells of the hapless men and women who faced torture and likely death at the hands of their vicious religious persecutors.
The prisoners were packed in here, twenty to a small cell. Yet despite their suffering, the remarkable graffiti on the walls – the writing material made from a mixture of brick dust, saliva, even urine – bears testament to the extraordinary spirit of the internees. There are poems here, life stories, prayers, even religious discussion. Yet there’s an almost physical chill about this place, even now.
High up on one wall is carved the name Giovan Andres and the date 1633, with the Apostle’s Creed (a Protestant text) underneath his name. We know that the author of this graffiti was in fact John Andrews, a 23-year-old Cornishman, kidnapped by Muslim pirates in Padstow in 1630 and forced to convert to Islam. Any defence of coercion at his trial failed to convince his interrogators and in that same year, 1633, Andrews was sentenced to five years on Spain’s galley ships – a death sentence if ever there was one.
Monreale
From a victim of the Catholic church to one of its heroes and martyrs. A few miles out of Palermo, perched high on a hilltop, is the town of Monreale with its splendid cathedral, built by the Normans in 1174 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. There’s an acre and a half of magnificent mosaics, and high up in the central apse, amongst the ranks of saints, is – most intriguingly – a bearded, gowned figure with the writing alongside him SCS (Sanctus – Saint) Thomas Cant.
This is St Thomas a Becket, murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 (‘will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest’) by King Henry II’s knights, and canonised by the Pope three years later – just as the Monreale Cathedral was about to be built. This was years before the advent of the printing press, but news of the murder had clearly spread around Europe and hence Thomas’s place amongst other saints in this magnificent place, one of the architectural treasures of the West.
Back in the city, we visited another Norman masterpiece, the Palatine Chapel, built a little earlier in 1130 in honour of Sicily’s greatest Norman king, Roger II. We admired the 19th century neoclassical splendour of the Teatro Massimo opera house, the largest in Italy, our minds flicking back to that tumultuous scene filmed here at the end of The Godfather III, when Michael Corleone’s daughter Mary is killed in a hail of bullets on the sweeping steps outside the theatre. We enjoyed a cooling walk around the city’s impressive Botanical Gardens.
Palermo Food
Away from the churches and museums, we picked our way through the throng attending the Ballaro market, the oldest and biggest in the city, teeming with fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, meat, and fish fresh from the Mediterranean. There was the opportunity to taste some of those Sicilian specialities – arancini, panelle, and of course cannoli, with its crisp shells and creamy ricotta filing.
Of all our meals out, none was as satisfying as the one on our first night at Funnaco Pizzalab, down an alleyway only yards from La Bella Palermo. It’s a buzzy atmosphere here, with patrons of all ages – in one corner a group of young women were taking part in a card school, rather than looking at their phones, which was rather refreshing. Here you can watch your pizzas, which come in six different dough types, being baked in the wood-fired oven.
Masseria del Carboj
Leaving the hustle and bustle of Palermo behind, we drove ninety minutes across the island to the south-western coast for our countryside sojourn. We had come to an ‘agri retreat’, Masseria del Carboj, literally meaning farmhouse of Carboj (the river that runs through this landscape).
This place was a fully functioning farm from 1923 onwards, the land here rich with oil, almonds, wheat, chickpeas, apricots and much more. At one point in the early 1960s, our engaging proprietor Marco told us, it stabled the horses of the carabinieri (Italian police). The vineyards all around produce the most delicious Grillo (Anima) white wine, which would become the accompaniment of choice with our evening meal.
You really feel as if you are in a haven in the middle of nowhere, although the Magaggiaro Woods, an 800-hectare nature reserve, lie close to the north, while the pleasant fishing village of Porto Palo is but a 20-minute southward drive to the coast.
Some of Sicily’s finest archaeological sites are within reach – the ruins of the fables Greek city of Selinunte are just a 30-minute drive, while Segesta and Agrigento are a bit further away. But after an energetic three days in Palermo, this was the perfect place to chill out, read a book by the pool, eat well, enjoy a gentle walk, and perhaps indulge in some cycling.
The indefatigable proprietor Marco is the heart and soul of the place, always on hand to assist with practicalities and to show off the property. His wife Roxanne is in charge of the beautifully appointed Racina Restaurant (a capacity of 80 covers), which offers substantial breakfasts, lunches and candlelit dinners.
We arrived at lunchtime, first enjoying a glass of wine and a tasty salad beneath the palm trees on the restaurant terrace. Once finished, we moved into our Deluxe room ‘Biancuccia’ (one of fifteen) on the ground floor, which bore all the hallmarks of a converted farmworkers’ cottage. It had a rustic feel and was elegantly furnished, with room for a comfortable double bed, desk and a couple of chairs, while the bathroom had a good walk-in shower. It also had a pleasant little patio, where you could read while gazing out across the valley.
Just along from the Racina Restaurant is a cosy sitting room for residents’ use, with four or five armchairs, lamps, an eclectic set of books, and a small dining table. It’s a place to settle into on colder days, but the main activity here in the summer centres around the outdoor swimming pool and poolside bar.
The pool is a decent size, so Roger was able to keep to his 50-length regime, before breakfast and mid-afternoon. Under Marco’s guidance, he was also able to take one of the resort’s e-bikes out for a spin, an undemanding seven kilometre cycle along scenic country lanes, meeting nothing and no-one along the way, save a solitary farm vehicle.
The highlight of our stay at Masseria del Carboj was undoubtedly dinner at Racina, such an atmospheric space with its high, wood-vaulted ceiling. We were fussed over by Marco and Roxanne and presented with a splendid sequence of food – five varieties of warm fresh bread, and tasty pasta and fish dishes, a cannoli, all with ingredients sourced on the doorstep.
It was such a relaxing stay – the perfect contrast to the action-packed three days in Palermo. Sicily, with its often troubled history of conquest and repression, has risen above it all because it has every ingredient for the good life – landscape, people, art and food. Surely what Goethe had in mind with his ‘key to everything’.
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