{ Chapter Sixteen }
King Martin
Martin I (1374-1409) called “The Younger”, King of Sicily from 1390-1409.
The coronation of Victor Amadeus is remembered in a marble plaque with sculptures, by Vincenzo Ragusa, placed in the southern portico of the Cathedral. AC, 140.
stirring national sentiment to new hopes
from his campaign in Tunis
Charles V celebrated his triumph “over the infidel” in Rome on April 5, 1536 to commemorate his victory in Tunis.
Natoli: piano dei Bologna. Its original name was Piazza d’Aragona, named after Carlo d’Aragona Tagliava, viceroy of Sicily from 1556-68 and 1571-77. In 1573, Don Luigi Beccadelli Bologna, Baron of Montefranco, built his palazzo there and attended to the enlargement and embellishment of the piazza, which in his honor took the name of Piano dei Bologna, from which the current name derives.
Piazza Bologni
The bronze statue of the Charles V was made in 1631 by Scipione Li Volsi, depicting the emperor in the act of swearing allegiance to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Sicily, but his right hand in midair has always intrigued the populace, who have invented many stories regarding its meaning. AC, 140.
Here you have to spend a sackful this big
The monumental fountain was originally carved by the Tuscan sculptor Francesco Cammiliani for a villa in 1554 and transferred to Palermo in 1574. It consists of mythological deities, monsters, animals, dolphins, harpies, and sirens. The naked bodies and weird animals somewhat shocked the citizens who gave the place the name Piazza della Vergogna, or “Piazza of Shame” which still adheres today. It is located in the heart of the historic center and is the most important landmark of Piazza Pretoria. PCG, 45.
Fontana Pretoria
This open space extended south of the walled city, approximately between the present day Via Archirafi and the coastline. A small church was located there, to which the fishermen of the small harbor were devoted. In the eighteenth century, after the events narrated in the novel, the vast esplanade, used by fishermen to spread out their nets in the sun, become the place for executions by Sant’Offizio. AC, 141.
The Piano di Sant’Erasmo
Built in 1531 along the eastern walls of the city. It is one of the smallest surviving city gates of the sixteenth century wall system. AC, 141.
Porta dei Greci
There were numerous taverns and accommodations in the working-class and mercantile neighborhoods of Palermo, especially near the markets. In the area of the Vucciria and the Cala they were mainly used by sailors, the others, close to the gates of the city, were for the regnicoli, the inhabitants of the countryside areas who came to sell their products in the city. AC, 142.
but lingering a bit in each of them
Natoli: il giuoco di lotto (the game of the lot, or lottery) invented by the Genovese and imported to Palermo. Victor Amadeus forbade it, the Bourbons allowed it, made it royal, and it became a plague on their kingdom. SE, 262.
the drawing of Milan
pelle: skins. After the revolution of 1820, in which the conzarioti (tanners) played a great and proud part, the Bourbon government expelled the tanners, demolished that maze and created a piazza, which is the present-day Piazza Nuova. SE, 265.