{ Chapter Eleven }

The large harbor of the city. Equipped with a large arsenal and able to accommodate merchant ships and naval armies, it was a work of great engineering, considered one of the most daring of the century. It came to be called la muraglia d’argento, the “silver wall”, because of the huge amounts of silver that it cost the populace. AC, 111.

Molo Grande

In Palermo’s historic center was a medieval quarter known as the Conceria. The history of the neighborhood begins in the Middle Ages (or perhaps even earlier), when the leather tanners opened their shops along the banks of the Papireto river, given the large amounts of water necessary for the profession. The first recorded news of the existence of this area dates back to a notary deed of 1287, where mention is made of the “river that flows from the Tannery”.

 The neighborhood was known for its dark and winding alleys, and a large density of people of ill repute. This fame, perhaps truthful, was due to the presence of many hiding places, also located underground, that offered a place of refuge for thieves, prostitutes, fugitives, and outlaws. Precisely because of its configuration (it is said that even soldiers were afraid to enter it) this district was the secret cradle of many revolutionary movements, and for this reason on several occasions, kingdoms and governments tried to intervene to redevelop it.

During the Bourbon uprisings of 1820, the neighborhood was a veritable ferment of insurgents, so much so that General Vito Nunziante decided to take drastic measures, with the closure of the entire underground and the demolition of several buildings. 

See:  https://www.palermoviva.it/lo-scomparso-quartiere-della-conceria/.

Conceria

Also known as Via Maqueda, named after the viceroy of Sicily, Bernardino de Cárdenas y Portugal, Duke of Maqueda.

Strada Nuova

Many of the streets in Palermo assumed the name of the people who worked there. Via dei Candelai (candlemakers) was located in the Capo. AC, 112.

Via dei Candelai

Named after the attendants of the portantine and litters, which at that time, together with carriages, were the usual means of transport. RLD, 385.

Via delle Lettighe

The Church of Santa Maria di Gesù, also known as Santa Maruzza dei canceddi, because it was the premises of the confraternity of the porters of beasts of burden, who, in order to transport their goods used large wicker baskets called canceddi. The church had ancient origins, perhaps prior to the fifteenth century. The present church is from the seventeenth century. AC, 112.

Santa Maruzza

Vicolo degli Orfani, on the right side of the Church of Santa Maruzza, leads to a vaulted underground, accessible by a staircase under the garden of the Palazzo Baldi: it was probably an ancient “sirocco chamber”, an underground room with a special ventilation system capable of ensuring well-being, used to counteract excessive heat; according to legend, it was used by the sect of the Beati Paoli. AC, 112.

as if it were hollow

The vendicatori, or avengers, were a secret society of rebel-vigilantes formed around 1186 in Sicily to avenge injustices. It was finally suppressed by William II, who hanged the leader and branded its members with hot irons.

Those terrifying vendicosi