Santa Maria dello Spasimo monastery, an unfinished 16th-century church, which now is an open-air event location period-piece extravaganza of shimmering crystal chandeliers, frescoed walls and an ornate Basile-designed woodwork ceiling and fireplace – are the result of a painstaking twoyear restoration that included scraping off layers of slappedon white plaster and restyling rooms with Deco-inspired black and gold sobriety. Built in 1856 by the British Marsalaexporting Ingham Whitaker family (who also constructed a secret passage to the Anglican church across the street), the villa-turned-hotel once drew the likes of avant-garde French writer Raymond Roussel and Richard Wagner, who holed up in the hotel for months in 1881 to compose Parsifal. Now a grandiose suite, Wagner fans can play the very same Blüthner piano, admire the musician’s antiques and shower in a marble bathroom big enough for an entire string section. Don’t miss the panoramic view from the new rooftop sushi restaurant and mixology bar. Other rehabilitated historic gems include the sleek 12- room boutique hotel and thermal spa, Palazzo Santamarina (palazzosantamarina.com), housed in a once-crumbling marble Renaissance palace built on 13th-century ruins, meticulously restored and polished to perfection; next door, they sell their own exclusive line of seductive Sicilian scents at a perfume bar (olfattorio) with a glass-topped floor for a glimpse at the ancient stones below. Palermo is also for wandering, a city of street food (where hearty locals nibble on stigghiola, grilled lamb intestines, and pane con la milza, sandwiches stuffed with spleen of veal), humming markets, glinting gilded mosaics and modernist Liberty-style villas. Thanks to its strategically situated port that endured centuries of warring invaders, the architecture is unique – a chaotic hodgepodge of Punic, Phoenician, Roman and Arab-Norman-Byzantine influences, with some 64 churches, 36 museums and 44 palaces open to the public. Monuments stand side by side with shabby tenements bedecked with drying laundry; narrow cobblestone alleys, adorned with makeshift shrines to Rosalia (Palermo’s patron saint), lead to splendid honeycoloured stone squares. Puppets (don’t miss the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum, museodellemarionette. it) are a high art, and pistachios reign supreme. Cannolibinging, particularly the pale-green nut-infused variety, is expected. Ice-cream sandwiches begin at breakfast, with a scoop of homemade icy almond slush (granita) atop a freshly baked brioche. Palermo’s shifting cityscape got a jumpstart in 2015, when mayor Leoluca Orlando decided to transform the traffic-choked main drag, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, into an inviting pedestrian zone. These days – from Porta Nuova to the Piazza dei Quattro Canti, where four districts converge – the historic centre is an effervescent hub of activity lined with stylish local brand boutiques, cafes, galleries and › 56 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM PLEASE CHECK THE LATEST GOVERNMENT ADVICE BEFORE BOOKING TRAVEL OR DEPARTING ON ANY TRIP
A TABLEAU OF PALERMO CREATIVES AND ART-RICH SPACES Clockwise from top left: trained as an engineer and architect, multimedia artist Ignazio Mortellaro explores the complex relationship between man and nature – and, as such, ancient astronomical maps as well as topographical instruments fill his Palermo studio; an haute-couture fashion and furniture label named for Caravaggesque painter Mattia Preti, Casa Preti is the brainchild of local tailor Mattia Piazza and and Swiss architect Steve Gallay; at her Del 4 Aprile 14 studio, Veronica Mancuso creates intricate ceramics inspired by her former job restoring and reproducing the ancient majolica tiles of the city’s domes; Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea is among the city’s most renowned galleries for both hyper-local and international talents and boasts a second location in Milan – CW CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 57
