Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Genovesi
(Via Squarcialupo; 9am-1.30pm Mon-Fri)
Boasting an elegant Renaissance-style facade, this
church was built between 1575 and 1591 to a design by Piedmontese architect Giorgio di
Faccio. Its interior is as pleasing as its exterior, featuring Corinthian tetrastyle columns
and a gravestone-laden marble floor. During the WWII Allied bombing of Palermo, the
entire area around the church was flattened but it was miraculously spared.
CHURCH
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Valverde
(Largo Cavalieri di Malta; 9am-1.30pm Mon-Fri)
In 1633 this 14th-century Carmelite church un-
derwent a lavish transformation courtesy of wealthy Genovese Camillo Pallavicino,
whose only daughter had entered the convent of Valverde. It is graced by
The Madonna of
Mount Carmel with Saints,
painted by Pietro Novelli in 1640.
CHURCH
TOP OF CHAPTER
1
La Kalsa
Plagued by poverty, La Kalsa has long been one of the city's most notorious neighbour-
hoods. However, a recent program of urban regeneration has resulted in many of its long-
derelict
palazzos
being restored and these are rapidly being turned into museums,
boutique hotels and upmarket residential accommodation.
Galleria Regionale
della Sicilia
MUSEUM
(Palazzo Abatellis; 091 623 00 11;
www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/palazzoabatellis
;
Via Alloro 4; adult/EU
18-25/EU under 18 & over 65 €8/4/free; 9am-6pm Tue-Fri, to 1pm Sat & Sun)
Housed in the stately 15th-
century Palazzo Abatellis, this fine museum features works by Sicilian artists from the
Middle Ages to the 18th century. Its greatest treasure is
Triunfo della Morte
(Triumph of
Death), a magnificent fresco in which Death is represented as a demonic skeleton moun-
ted on a wasted horse, brandishing a rather wicked-looking scythe while leaping over his
hapless victims.
