Page 126 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Out from the centre

It’s well worth taking time to explore the Palermo that lies beyond the city centre. The
highlights are the fine Arab Norman palace of La Zisa and the ghoulish mummies of
the Catacombe dei Cappuccini. A one-time royal Bourbon hunting ground, Parco

della Favorita is now a public park, its charms somewhat compromised by the fact
that it’s crisscrossed by roads – anyone wanting to escape the city for a few hours
would be better advised to head for the nature reserve of Monte Pellegrino.

Parco della Favorita

3km north of Piazza Politeama • Park No set hours • Free • Palazzina Cinese Tues–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 9am–1pm
• Free • parcodellafavorita.it • Take bus #101 from Stazione Centrale to Piazza Giovanni Paolo II, then change to
the #645 and ask to be dropped at the park

North of the centre lies the Parco della Favorita, a long, wooded expanse at the foot

of Monte Pellegrino, with sports grounds and stadiums at one end, and formal gardens
laid out a couple of kilometres beyond. The grounds were originally acquired in 1799
by the Bourbon king Ferdinand during his exile from Naples, and for three years he
lived here in the Palazzina Cinese, a small but exquisite Chinese-style pavilion.
There are plans afoot to close the entire park area to traffic.

Monte Pellegrino

Sanctuaries di Santa Rosalia Daily 7am–12.15pm & 2–6pm • www.riservamontepellegrino.palermo.it • Bus
#812 from Piazza Sturzo or Teatro Politeama

North of the city, and clearly visible from the port area, the massive bulk of Monte
Pellegrino separates Palermo from the bay at Mondello. The mountain is a nature
reserve, and there are marked paths across it, though for most locals Monte Pellegrino
is primarily a venue for Sunday picnics and strolls. It’s also a significant place of
pilgrimage, the site of the shrine of the city’s patron saint, St Rosalia.

The half-hour ride up the mountain provides wide views over Palermo and its plain.

At the very end of the road stands the Santuario di Santa Rosalia, part of a
ramshackle collection of huts and stalls, entered through a small chapel erected over a
deep cave in the hillside where the saint’s bones were discovered in 1624. Inside, a
bier contains a reclining golden statue of the saint, thought by Goethe to be “so natural
and pleasing, that one can hardly help expecting to see the saint breathe and move”.

The water trickling down the walls is supposedly miraculous.

A small road to the left of the chapel leads to the cliff-top promontory – a half-hour’s
walk – where a more restrained statue of Santa Rosalia stares over the sprawling city.
Another path, leading up from the sanctuary to the right, takes you to the top of the
mountain – 600m high, and around a forty-minute walk. Elsewhere, the trails that