Palermo has always been considered a city of a thousand faces, with a history as troubled as it is suggestive, and rich in an immense heritage so much that it is called open-air museum and unmissable destination for holidays in Sicily.
Three thousand years of history have made it one of the most controversial and mysterious cities in Italy and beyond, leaving visible scars and indelible marks of countless passages. The streets of the historic center give visitors a meltin artistic pot incomparable, between Arab-Norman, Gothic, Catalan, Baroque, Neoclassical, Mannerism, and the Art Nouveau that established itself between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Palermo established itself among the most exclusive lounges in Europe. A peculiar feature, among others, of the history and tradition of Palermo, are the historical markets, a melting pot of cultures and true cradles of stories, legends and characters that have inspired real masterpieces. Of Arabic origin, were born in Palermo during their domination between the eighth and eleventh centuries, a period during which there were more than three hundred mosques in the current capital.
Of the three markets, Vucciria, Ballarò and Capo, the most famous is probably the first, thanks also to the masterpiece by Renato Guttuso, a master from Bagheria who imprinted on canvas the spectacle offered by the market. It is mistakenly believed that the name derives from the French “boucherie”, or meat market; in reality, the meat market of Palermo was the Ballarò, so much so that the very famous is born right there bread with spleen.
The origin, as expected, is Arab, and the original term indicates a place full of smells and perfumes. The importance that the market assumes and has assumed in the Palermo culture is testified by the cultural review called proprio Wucciria.
