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Home Countries Italy

The Hidden Charms Of Palermo, Sicily, One Of The Greatest Cities In History

Discovering Palermo's Magnificent Hidden Treasures

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Aug 17, 2021
in Italy, Travel
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Fountain of Piazza Pretoria in Palermo, Sicily.

Alamy/funkyfood London - Paul Williams

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Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was an enlightened man.

Under his watch, Prussia was a land of tolerance.

All religions were allowed and respected, as was freedom of the press. A unified code of laws disallowed torture and protected individual rights without regard for class.

Frederick II’s military success expanded Prussia’s reach, and his domestic policies transformed that ever-expanding kingdom into an open-minded and forward-looking superpower.

Art and science, curiosity and discovery were valued and supported.

In Sicily, Frederick II presided over a court of poets and scholars and to Sicily he attracted the most talented and innovative men of the age. The combined efforts of the artists and architects Frederick II sponsored transformed Palermo into one of the greatest cities of history, a showcase of the best we humans are capable of achieving.

Frederick II died in 1250. For Palermo… indeed, for Sicily… it’s been downhill ever since.

All Italy suffers from long neglect, but nowhere more than Sicily. Palermo today is like a woman of a certain age—best viewed after dusk. In the bright light of midday, this once-glorious city is dirty and crumbling, unkempt and unpainted… unless you count the graffiti. “It’s street art,” my 21-year-old son pointed out in defense. And it’s everywhere.

But that’s only the street view. When you venture behind the palace walls and through the cathedral doors, it’s possible to glimpse Palermo’s lingering magnificence.

Church of St. Joseph of Theatines in Palermo
Alamy/Giulio Ercolani
Church of St. Joseph of Theatines

Sicilians have a dramatic sense of pomp and pageantry and a love of over-the-top ornamentation, thanks probably to their Arab connections. Not only cathedrals and palaces but even much more modest private homes from centuries ago brandish gilded moldings and ornate mosaics. Traditional textiles feature bright, bold yellows, reds, blues, and greens.

But it’s all frozen in time.

Hundreds of years of decay were capped off last century by World War II.

“In 1943, everyone was here in Sicily,” one museum tour guide told us. “The Americans, the British, the French… all with their bombs. The damage was great.”

Buildings destroyed were replaced with modern construction.

“No one thought of trying to rebuild what had been bombed,” our guide explained. “Better to eliminate the rubble… to put the horrible experience behind us as quickly as possible.”

In the decades since, there has been little new built and virtually no rehabilitation. This city doesn’t have enough money to do anything but stand still.

This may sound grim and glum, and, I admit, my first impression of Palermo was bleak. I had no choice but to give her a chance to change my mind. We were booked in for two weeks, and, by day three, I was glad for that. We had to work for the reward, queuing and touring in stifling heat, but, after we’d seen the masterpieces inside the Church Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, climbed the tower of the cathedral for a view of the city’s ancient rooftops, and had the privilege of witnessing a symphony rehearsal in the Teatro Massimo, we were more sympathetic to Palermo’s hidden charms.

The city’s artistic achievements are concealed from street view, but life in Palermo is lived in plain sight. Food is a priority. The smell of roasting garlic fills the cobblestoned alleyways and squares by 10 a.m. Even in the poorest neighborhoods, open-air markets sell great varieties of fresh produce, including vegetables we couldn’t name. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants with three and four streetside tables offer the day’s catch perfectly prepared, and even the US$2 lasagna we tried because we couldn’t walk away from the chance to try US$2 lasagna was memorable in a good way.

A market in Palermo, Sicily
Alamy/foodfolio

By 3 p.m. each afternoon, the siesta seemed like the best idea anyone had ever had. After naps, we’d venture back out into the heat reminding ourselves that in this town prosecco is ever-present and excitingly cheap. The Libreria Dante café, down the street from our hotel on Via Maqueda on the corner of Quattro Canti, where we could buy a bottle of prosecco to share for 12 euro, became a favorite afternoon hangout.

We’d sip our sparkling wine while watching children passing by on bicycles and scooters, others kicking soccer balls back and forth as they progressed along the pedestrians-only thoroughfare. Mothers pushed babies in strollers or carried them in their arms. Old men smoked, boys ate ice creams. Young girls in short skirts and sleeveless halters walked alongside women in hijabs. A nod to Frederick II.

By 7 p.m. each day, Via Maqueda, the main axis of the city’s historic center, was packed with locals and tourists, like us, seeking shelter from the sun beneath café umbrellas and savoring this golden hour when the city’s rough edges were blurred just enough that you could imagine yourself enjoying her during her golden age.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

Tags: 'Italy'Expats in PalermoPalermosicilyTraveling to PalermoVisit Palermo
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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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