Page 113 - The Rough Guide of Sicily
P. 113
Piazza Marina
The large square of Piazza Marina encloses the tropical Giardino Garibaldi, famed
for its enormous banyan trees. It’s a popular venue for the city’s elderly card-players,
who gather around green baize tables at lunchtime for a game. The square itself was
reclaimed from the sea in the tenth century, subsequently used for jousting tournaments
and executions, and is now overlooked by the lovely Renaissance facade of Santa
Maria dei Miracoli, and surrounded by pavement restaurants and palazzi, including
the second largest of Palermo’s palaces, the Palazzo Chiaramonte, flanking the east
side of the square. Dating from the fourteenth century, the palace was the home of the
Inquisition from 1685 to 1782, before becoming the city’s law courts (until 1972).
Today, it is the administrative centre of the university and is only open to the public
for occasional art exhibitions.
