Stories

In 1969, a Caravaggio measuring 2.7 by 2 metres was stolen from the Oratorio di San Lorenzo. The thieves cut the painting out of its frame, loaded it onto an Ape and drove away. No one knows for certain what happened next: theories range from a Mafia commission to the painting being cut into pieces, or even damaged by rats and pigs.

Porta Felice has no traditional arch across the top, and there’s a favourite Palermo story about why. In the 18th century, people jokingly called the gate i corna a luna — “horns under the moon.” Nearby was the seafront, where aristocrats loved taking evening walks, including romantic ones. So people joked that the top had deliberately been left open so that cheated husbands could enter the city without catching their horns on the arch.

Antica Focacceria San Francesco was the first place to serve Palermo street food in a restaurant setting. About 150 years ago, a court chef was given part of an old palazzo and opened a restaurant serving local Palermo food.

You’ll see Teste di Moro almost everywhere in Sicily — two heads, one male and one female. And behind this beautiful ceramic tradition is a story that isn’t quite so lovely. According to one legend, a Sicilian girl fell in love with an Arab young man, only to discover that he had a wife and children and would soon be going back home. While he was sleeping, she cut off his head, turned it into a flowerpot and planted basil in it.

Palermo’s two Sunday flea markets couldn’t be more different. At Ballarò, you’ll hear “Tutto 1 euro!” all around you, and among the dishes, books, clothes and local ceramics, you sometimes have to do a bit of digging. At Piazza Marina, everything is prettier, calmer and noticeably more expensive: antique textiles, ceramics, old posters and even wooden pieces from old palazzi.

In Palermo, arancina is feminine. Palermitans believe that everything beautiful and wonderful should be feminine, while in Catania they strongly disagree: there, they eat arancino. Even the shape is different — Palermo’s is round like an orange, while Catania’s is cone-shaped, like Mount Etna.

The Genius is the spirit and symbol of Palermo. My favourite version of his story is the oldest one: long before Christianity and Rome, people believed that every place had its own spirit — a genius loci. A person, a house, a family, a city — each had its own genius, whom people asked for protection and good fortune. For centuries, Palermitans turned to their Genius for help too.

Historically, Via Garibaldi was the street of the berrettifici — workshops where caps were made. The craftsmen worked side by side, shared suppliers and customers: cooperation rather than competition. And even today, if I want a coppola not from an expensive boutique but simply a good cap for everyday life, this is the first place I go.