{ Chapter Five }
The bell clock on a majestic sixteenth century building, originally a textile factory called La Panneria. Beginning in 1591 it was the headquarters of Monte di Pietà, a precursor of modern banks, established to help the needy.
Midnight had sounded from the Panneria clock
the Capo
The opening of Via Maqueda in 1600 divided the city into four parts, called mandamenti, or districts: Kalsa to the southeast, Loggia to the northeast, Capo to the northwest, and Albergheria to the southwest. PCG, 59.
A hill town on the slope of Monte Caputo about four miles southwest of Palermo, home to one of the greatest examples of Norman architecture, the Monreale Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
She was a peasant from Monreale
The character Peppa la Sarda is imaginary but inspired by Francesca la Sarda, executed in 1663 for creating a diabolical potion, of which only one drop in anything made people who drank it die within three days. RLD, 383.