The Fountain of Shame and Plentiful Produce in Palermo

Palermo sells gorgeous produce! After a day in Cefalù, it was time to get to know Palermo. Our apartment is conveniently located for visiting the sights that aren't covered on the Rick Steves tour. Morning is the best time for the Ballarò market where locals buy their produce all grown in Sicily, along with fresh fish, meats, and cheeses. The only thing we bought was a yummy homemade cannoli. 

The peppers are huge!

The vendor saw me taking the photo, but I was interested in telling a larger story with the street and arch along with him. It was apparently the season for artichokes!

Almost everyone had artichokes...about 50 cents each.

Do you think that they're discussing the price of the broccoli?

The Palermo Cathedral exterior is an eclectic mix of styles. We expected a glorious interior to match it. But it is a somewhat drab Neoclassical style, renovated this way in 1801. 

One of the more interesting items was the meridian line that acts as a solar calendar. A small hole in the dome above allows in sunlight that pinpoints the zodiac, and therefore the month.

The Quattro Canti (Four Corners) is the heart of the city of Palermo. In this pano shot each building is adorned with statues that represent a season. We walked through here several times a day and there was always something going on whether it was tour groups, horse-drawn carriages, or musicians.

The Fountain of Shame with its nude and racy figures was also a frequent sight on our walks as it is near the Quattro Canti. It is located in Piazza Pretoria in front of the city hall and the Dominican convent of Santa Caterina (background dome). At the time of installation in the late 1500s, the shocked nuns put clothes on the statues. When those didn't stay on, they chipped off the nasty naked bits. A fence was then installed and the fountain has since been restored.

This abandoned building is in the same square as the "fountain of shame." Photo taken for the colors.

The Palazzo Reale with the Palatine Chapel is the oldest royal residence in Europe (begun in the ninth century by Arab emirs). Luckily, there weren't many tourists.

Palazzo Reale aka Norman Palace

Now enclosed in glass, this beautiful carriage was built for royalty in 1766.

The interior of the palace is nice, but not as ornate as some that we've seen. The Sicilian Regional Assembly still meets in the building and the rooms are lovely, but set up to accommodate parliamentarian events and meetings.

Norman, Byzantine, and Arab are the design traditions used in the Palatine Chapel. Built in the 12th century, the glittering glass mosaics are set up to read like a book. We spent several minutes alone in this dazzling place.

A pano shot captures some of the ceiling covered with wooden "muqarnas," a stalactite-like decoration that is usually found when a Christian church is converted from a mosque. These were part of the original Christian design for the chapel.