If you walk from the Cathedral towards the Capo Market, the first thing you’ll notice in the square at the market entrance is a kiosk with the old sign “Chiosco Beati Paoli.” By the way, it’s a nice place to sit down with an Aperol for just €3. And this is where the mysterious story of the Beati Paoli begins.
Historians have never been able to prove that this brotherhood actually existed, because not a single official document confirming its existence has survived. At the same time, the very nature of such a secret society would explain the lack of written evidence. So, who were they?
According to legend, the Beati Paoli were created to defend the poor. The judges stood on the side of the nobility, while the brotherhood stood on the side of ordinary people. Whenever someone suffered an injustice, they would turn to the brothers, who were said to live in the underground tunnels beneath the Capo Market. The brotherhood would then take revenge in whatever way they considered appropriate, delivering their own form of justice in Palermo’s underground passages.
Those tunnels still exist today, and you can even visit them on a guided tour. Whether the brotherhood itself ever existed remains unknown. What is known is that another group, the Vendicosi (“The Avengers”), already existed in the 12th century, and documents about them have survived. Perhaps the Beati Paoli simply continued the Vendicosi’s mission five centuries later. After all, poor people have always needed someone to protect them.
Whenever I read about the Beati Paoli, one question always comes to mind: do I actually agree with their ideology, and what does it remind me of? Reading about the Vendicosi gave me an answer. Palermo’s history has always included people who claimed to defend the poor against the powerful. It was the beginning of the story of the Sicilian Mafia.