|
Cities Information
PALERMO
| Region |
Sicily |
| Capital |
Palermo |
| Total Population |
1,198,644 |
| Males |
578,149 |
| Females |
620,495 |
|
|
Palermo the Sicily's regional capital
 Palermo is
busy, hectic, intimidating and interesting by turns. It's
the city which most encapsulates Sicily, and it is the
home to some of the region's most important tourist
attractions.
 Palermo
is Sicily's regional capital, and is a busy port city
situated on the north-western coast of the island. In the
Middle Ages, Palermo was one of Europe's leading cities,
but nowadays the town is still trying to recover from
twentieth-century years of blight. With a reputation as a
hotbed for both petty and organized crime, Palermo's
attractions as a tourist destination are frequently
overlooked. There is some fine architecture to be admired,
as well as good museums, churches, markets and
restaurants.
History of Sicily
Sicily is famous for its colorful and wide-ranging
cultural influences - it's certainly not alone in Europe
in its history of conquest, invasion and assimilation, but
here the legacy is particularly obvious and alive.
One of the most illustrious phases of Sicily's varied
history arrived in the eighth century BC, with Greek and
Carthaginian colonists. Bronze Age evidence shows the
earlier existence of trade routes with Greece, and in 734
BC the first colony was established at Naxos (close to
present-day Taormina) by Greeks keen to exploit the
island's agricultural potential. Sicily's fertility
ensured the successful growth of this and subsequent
colonies, which, as part of Magna Graecia, came to rival
the Greek city states. Syracuse, the greatest of Sicily's
Greek cities, became a significant power in the
Mediterranean, although Greek Sicily was perpetually riven
by inter-state warfare.
 In
mainland Italy, the Romans grew in power and took hold of
Sicily after the sacking of Syracuse during the Second
Punic War in 211 BC. Over the centuries, Sicily became an
important source of grain for the Roman Empire, seen
principally as an agricultural resource. Nevertheless,
some of the island's towns and villas reflect Rome's
grandeur, and Greek theatres (such as those in Taormina
and Siracusa) were adapted to suit more bloodthirsty Roman
tastes.
A brief occupation by barbarians followed the fall of the
Empire, before Sicily came under Byzantine sway. Next came
the Arabs, in the ninth century AD. Under Arab rule Sicily
regained wealth and prestige, with their capital Palermo
becoming an elegant and famed city.
As the Arab rulers began to bicker, it was the turn of the
Normans to take advantage of the island's vulnerability.
In the late eleventh century, Palermo became the capital
of Norman Sicily. Another period of wealth and growth
followed, with the creation of many of the island's finest
monuments and artworks.
After Sicily had changed hands a number of times, a 1282
revolt known as the Sicilian Vespers overthrew the French.
Then followed five centuries of Spanish domination. As
usual, Sicily was under outside rule, and thus missed out
on many of Europe's developments. Culture remained
agricultural and feudal. The pressures of the Church and
the Inquisition helped keep the populace subdued. An
eruption of Etna in 1669 and the immense earthquake of
1693 killed many and the rebuilding kept the populace
busy. In various wars and treaties, Sicily was handed
around, belonging briefly to the House of Savoy, and then
Austria. Then came the Spanish Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
(ruled by the Bourbon kings of Naples), which endured the
Napoleonic Wars and continued, despite a British attempt
at reform, to oppress the population. Thus when Garibaldi
made his famous landing at Marsala in 1860, to claim the
island for the Savoy dynasty in his successful quest for
Italian unification, the new regime was greeted
optimistically (this is the period in which the novel The
Leopard is set).
Failed or insufficient reforms meant that the lot of
ordinary Sicilians did not improve significantly over the
next period, which saw the growth in power of
fear-wielding land managers, giving rise to the
intimidatory criminal class that was to become known as
the Mafia. The Messina earthquake of 1908 killed over
80,000 people. Millions emigrated in search of a better
life. During the Second world War, Sicily was invaded by
the Allies, who restored order with the assistance of the
Mafia, tightening its grip on the island. From then the
history of the island is bound up in struggles for
political power, the criminal machinations of the Mafia,
mismanagement and misappropriation of resources. However,
the closing years of the twentieth century saw the
beginnings of popular movements against corruption and
crime, as well as an increase in the tourism which is so
important to the island's economy.
|
Museums