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Itinerary: Bonocore Palace, Alliata Palace and Asmundo Palace, Saturday, 30th July 2016
Meeting point: Palazzo Bonocore (piazza Pretoria) at 21.00 or 22.00 Length of tour: 3 hours Cost: 10 (admission and guide included in the price) Booking is necessary.
Contact details: tel. +39 320 7672134 eventi@terradamare.org / www.terradamare.org/infoline
Amidst the most ancient streets of the old city centre, a backdrop for the Santa Rosalia Festival, along the curb sides of the Cassaro stand a number of true, architectural treasures. During our walk from Piazza Pretoria to the spacious forecourt of the Cathedral, we will visit three of the most prestigious aristocratic palaces in Palermo. Palazzo Bonocore, with its multi-media museum on Sicilys Immaterial Cultural Patrimony and a visit to the magical piazza Pretoria; Palazzo Asmundo with its collections and spectacular view of the Cathedral; Palazzo Alliata with its marvellous rooms framing piazza Bologni. Meeting point at Palazzo Bonocore at 21.00
PALAZZO BONOCORE piazza Pretoria, 2 Palermo
Palazzo Bonocore, precious artistic, historic and monumental testimony to the early years of the 17th century, overlooking Piazza Pretoria, in one of the most beautiful urban settings in Italy and just a stones throw away from two of UNESCO World Heritage monuments La Martorana and San Cataldo. After undergoing recent restoration, carried out by the Superintendence BB.CC, the palace reopens its doors to reveal the splendid frescoes, an expression of Sicilian Neo-Classical painting, also thanks to the commitment of the I WORLD Association who have created a Multi-Media Museum on Sicilys Immaterial Cultural Patrimony: Le Oasi delle Identità, with in the walls of Palazzo Bonocore, which has had over 8,000 visitors over the last 6 months, as well as, having been the focus of RAI TV programs, magazine and national newspaper articles.
PALAZZO ALLIATA
Palazzo Alliata sits on the ruins of two previous stately homes that had been the property of Don Aloisio Beccadelli di Bologna. It took on its actual configuration in the Mid – 17th century when Francesco Alliata – Lanza, the 7th Baron, 3rd Prince of Villafranca and Duke of Salaparuta had it built. Thus it became the seat of the Alliata family. Thoroughly restored after the earthquake in 1751, some of the finest Sicilian craftsmen of the day were involved in its renovation; the architect, Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, plasters from the Serpottian School (perhaps Procopio Serpotta, the son of his renowned father, Giacomo) and the painter Gaspare Serenario. The palace houses a fine art collection of notable historic and artistic value, such as Antoon Van Dycks famous Crucifixion, two enormous canvasses by Matthias Stom, The Stoning of Saint Stephen and The Money Tribute (the canvas was chosen to represent Sicily at Expo 2015 in Milan), two works by Pietro dAsaro, The Shipwreck or Fishing Scene and Orpheus and family portraits in the Musicians Room.
PALAZZO ASMUNDO via Pietro Novelli, 3 Palermo
A princely home that preserves superb frescoes in its interiors painted by Gioacchino Martorana in 1764 in which you can see magnificent allegories that are a hymn to earthly and divine justice, thus celebrating the role of Giuseppe Asmundo, President of Justice. This grand art complex is considered one of the most eloquent testimonies in the world to the centuries of aristocratic days gone by. Its polyhedral collections of Sicilian ceramics, the mattoni di censo (ceramic tiles), Neapolitan and French porcelain, vases, fans, embroidery, a copious number of maps and numismatic papers, carriages and sedans. All of these make exceptional reading of the culture, traditions and Sicilian identity.