Panoramas of Palermo

We revisited the Piazza Pretoria and the "Fountain of Shame." I had read that one could visit the monastery and church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria and find bird's eye views of the fountain and Palermo skyline. The church has a rather plain exterior, which effectively disguised the glorious interior.

The Fountain of Shame 

The plain exterior of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria.

The eye-popping interiors of Santa Caterina await worshippers who dare enter. I'm sparing you from the dozens of photos taken with only three selections from the explosive Sicilian Baroque interior.

A bird's eye view of the sanctuary, on the way to the roof, is loaded with marble inlay mosaic.

The over-the-top altar area. Above are the golden screens where the nuns of yore could look down on their families.

This 20 sec video might help give a better idea of the all-encompassing mosaic surroundings.

After climbing several staircases and ducking under rafters, we came out onto the roofline for incredible city and church dome views.

The large dome belongs to the Church of San Giuseppe dei Padri Teatini.

The Church of La Martorana (left) was never open when we were there. The Church of San Cataldo has three red Arab-inspired domes on top.

A natural reserve is the backdrop for a Palermo panorama.

But wait! There's more! There were several art displays and bedrooms of the nuns to see that are large and light-filled. Apparently, the nuns have gained a reputation for their sweets. We visited the cafe down in the convent cloister for irresistible cannoli which we have learned to love. We ordered one with chocolate on one end and candied orange on the other end, and shared a coffee in the sunny courtyard under orange, lemon and banana trees. 

One tree growing both lemons and oranges.

Time to walk off the cannoli with a Rick Steves city walk. We don't want to miss a thing.

This is the interior of the Oratory of San Lorenzo. Rick gives it 2 triangles, which means that it is worthy of a visit. Basically, it is one amazing room. An oratorio was kind of a medieval Rotary Club, designed to provide social work not provided by governments. The Nativity altarpiece is a reproduction of a Caravaggio that was stolen in 1969 (probably by the mafia) and has never been recovered.

The Church of San Domenico.

The Church of Santa Anna di Misericordia.

Palermo is justifiably proud of Teatro Massimo. The Neoclassical edifice was begun in 1875 and took 22 years to build. It is Italy's largest opera house and Europe's third largest. We were able to join an English tour of the interior.

Relaxing with some take-away in the apartment, we run a load of laundry and get organized to transfer to the tour hotel in the morning. (entrance to our apartment)