South Palermo is a district of the city of Palermo.
To know
Geographical notes
The district is crossed by the Oreto river which in some places delimits the border with the other districts.
Background
In this part of the city in 1282, precisely in the churchyard of the Church of the Holy Spirit, the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers which then spread to the whole island, driving out the Angevins from Sicily.
How to orient yourself
South Palermo: full screen map.Neighborhoods
- Oreto-Station
- Brancaccio-Ciaculli
- Settecannoli
- Villagrazia-Falsomiele
Fractions
- Water of the Corsairs
- 1 Ciaculli is a locality of the Municipality of Palermo that preserves the characteristics of the typical countryside village. It is located on the outskirts of the city and has about 9500 inhabitants. It is part of the II District and together with the hamlet of Croceverde-Giardina it forms the ninth first level unit of Palermo. Nearby is Santa Maria di Gesù, another village of peasant origin. In Ciaculli the late mandarin is grown, protected by Slow Food.
- 2 Croceverde is a small hamlet or rural hamlet of Palermo. It rises in the southern corner of the Conca d'Oro plain, and has about 1100 inhabitants. It is a few kilometers from the urban fabric of Palermo, and is bordered by two neighboring towns: to the north-west Ciaculli, bordered by the homonymous road, and to the south-east Gibilrossa, a hamlet of Misilmeri, known for Garibaldi's businesses. The village is not far from the town of Villabate.
- 3 Belmonte Chiavelli it is detached from the rest of the urban fabric of the city by the Palermo ring road. To the south lies the mountain system of the Monti di Palermo. The town is located in an area of steep slope at the foot of Monte Grifone. From Belmonte Chiavelli a complete panorama of the city is visible.
- 4 Holy Mary of Jesus is a locality or hamlet of the municipality of Palermo. It develops around the historic cemetery of the same name. It is located at the foot of Monte Grifone, among the other villages of Ciaculli and Belmonte Chiavelli. Santa Maria di Gesù, after the construction of the highway for Catania in the seventies-eighties, it is located right at the entrance to the Palermo ring road.
How to get
Palermo Centrale railway station
- 1 Palermo Central Station. There are long-distance trains to and from Milan Central, Rome Terms, Turin New door and other major Italian cities.
As for regional connections, there are direct trains to the cities of Messina, Catania, Agrigento is Trapani. 
- 2 Palermo Brancaccio station.
- 3 Maredolce station.
- 4 Vespri station.
How to get around
By tram
- 5 Central Station, via Paolo Balsamo (terminus next to the central station). Tram 1.
- 6 Get fat, Course of the Thousand. Tram 1
- 7 Shooting, Course of the Thousand. Tram 1
- 8 Admiral Bridge, Course of the Thousand. Tram 1
- 9 St. John of the Lepers, Course of the Thousand. Tram 1
- 10 Missori, Corso dei Mille / via Amedeo d'Aosta. Tram 1
- 11 Amedeo d'Aosta, via Amedeo d'Aosta. Tram 1
- 12 Bione, via Portella Ginestra. Tram 1
- 13 Spur, Via Pecori Giraldi Marshal. Tram 1
- 14 St. Sergius, Via Pecori Giraldi Marshal. Tram 1
- 15 XXVII May, Via Pecori Giraldi Marshal. Tram 1
What see
The entrance to the botanical garden of Palermo
- 1 Botanical Garden, Via Lincoln 2, ☎ 39 091 23891236, @[email protected].
Admission: full € 5, reduced € 3. 
9:00-17:00. It is home to over 12,000 different species. Oasis and space to relax and indulge in nature. The Botanical Garden of the University of Palermo is one of the most important institutions in Italy and has been active for over 200 years.
Admission: full € 5, reduced € 3. 
9:00-17:00. It is home to over 12,000 different species. Oasis and space to relax and indulge in nature. The Botanical Garden of the University of Palermo is one of the most important institutions in Italy and has been active for over 200 years.
Maredolce Castle
2 Maredolce Castle (Favara Palace), Vicolo del Castellaccio 23 (From the central station tram line 1 to the Missori stop, then change to bus 212 from the D'Aosta-Dei Mille stop to the Conte Federico-Giafar stop. Continue on foot.), ☎ 39 0916391111, 39 09181015, 39 09181011. free. Mon-Sat and every first Sunday of the month 9: 00-13: 00, Tue 9: 00-18: 30. The palace, improperly called "castle", was built in 1071, and was part of a fortified citadel located at the foot of Mount Grifone. In addition to the palace, the complex included a hammam and a fish pond. The building was one of the residences of the Norman king Roger II, who would have adapted it for his purposes from a pre-existing palace that belonged to the Kalbite Emir Jaʿfar in the 10th century. Over the centuries the castle underwent changes from the Normans and the Swabians and was transformed into a fortress. In 1328 it was given to the Teutonic knights-friars of the Magione, who transformed it into a hospital. In 1460 the structure was granted to the Sicilian Beccadelli family and was transformed into an agricultural building. After World War II. the structure fell into progressive decay as a result of the numerous forms of illegal activity that followed one another over the following decades. In 1992 the Sicilian Region acquired the building by expropriation and began the restoration work in 2007. The building, at the behest of Roger II, was surrounded by an artificial lake, which surrounded it on three sides, and was immersed in a large park, where Roger II delighted in hunting. The basin, which had an island of about two hectares in the center, was obtained thanks to a dam made up of blocks of tuff, which interrupted the flow of the source of Mount Grifone. In the 16th century the spring dried up, and the fishpond became a fertile agricultural area, which still exists today. The Favara park was part of a system of royal residences of delight, the sollazzi regi, which enjoyed their maximum splendor under the William II.
Room of the sirocco
- 3 Room of the Scirocco (Villa Naselli), Via Ambleri, 52, ☎ 39 366 224 8879. Currently not open to visitors. This so-called sirocco chamber has many of the characteristics typical of these environments, but with variations. It is a long room, a sort of tunnel where the water of the Ambleri river flows and the presence of little light as well as the fact of being underground determines the maintenance of a constantly low temperature, creating a pleasant summer coolness. This monument is located inside a private house.
Cemetery of Santa Maria di Gesù
- 4 Cemetery of Santa Maria di Gesù, Ascent Belvedere, 3. It is the oldest cemetery in Palermo from which the village of the same name in which it stands takes its name. There are numerous noble chapels belonging to some of the main families of Palermo including the Florio; for this reason it is also called "cemetery of the Nobles" '. Here he is buried Paolo Borsellino and sister Rita, but also the archaeologist Antonino Salinas. There are also many monumental chapels including the Florio Chapel and the sepulchral monument to the philosopher Paolo Morello of Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda.
- 5 Parish of San Gaetano and Maria SS. of Divine Love, Via Brancaccio, 260, ☎ 39 0916302752. The church where Don worked Pino Puglisi in the Brancaccio neighborhood before being killed by the mafia.
Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi
- 6 Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi, Via Salvatore Cappello, 38 (not far from the Admiral's Bridge. From the central station tram line 1 up to the Church of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi stop), ☎ 39 091 475024. It is an Arab-Norman style church. It was built on the ruins of the castle of Yahya (Giovanni in Arabic) in 1071, during the reconquest by the Normans, at the hands of the troops of Roberto il Guiscardo and Ruggero I of Sicily. The surrounding buildings were used for the shelter and assistance of lepers, hence the nickname of San Giovanni de 'Lebbrosi.
- The church responds to the canons of Sicilian-Norman Romanesque architecture with a Latin cross with protruding transept and triple apse; it is considered one of the oldest medieval Norman-style buildings in the city, and in particular it is perhaps the oldest Latin cross church in Palermo. The exterior of the building is bare because it is devoid of decorations, except for the reliefs in ashlars of the single lancet windows that guarantee the internal lighting. The entrance is simple, preceded by a small portico supported by a single corner pillar, on which the bell tower rests. The interior has a basilica layout divided into three naves by pillars, a wooden roof, a domed presbytery above the altar which included a primitive tribune.
Admiral's Bridge
7 Admiral's Bridge, course of the Thousand (From the central station tram line 1 to the Ponte dell'Ammiraglio stop). It is a bridge with twelve arches of the Norman era completed around 1131 at the behest of Giorgio d'Antiochia, admiral of King Roger II of Sicily, to connect the city (which became the capital) to the gardens located beyond the Oreto river. The use of very acute arches allowed the bridge to withstand very high loads. Now the river no longer flows under the arches of the Norman bridge, after its course was diverted due to its continuous overflows.
- The bridge has achieved an increase in tourist presences with the inauguration of the Palermo tram: in fact the bridge with the homonymous square have become one of the main stops on the route of line 1.
- 8 Colonnella di Romagnolo, Via Messina Marine (In front of the hospital).
- 9 Villa Giulia.
Sant'Orsola Cemetery
- 10 Sant'Orsola Cemetery (cemetery of Santo Spirito), Piazza Sant'Orsola, 2, ☎ 39 091422691. It is the second largest in the city, and is also known as a tourist destination. Inside there are in fact many tombs, the tombstones of a noble Palermo of the late '700 and' 800. It was built in 1783 at the behest of the viceroy Domenico Caracciolo around the pre-existing Church of the Vespro, one of the greatest examples of Norman architecture. It was the first cemetery open (in Europe) to all social classes. There are several monumental tombs. Among the buried personalities we remember: Ninni Cassarà (deputy police officer killed by the mafia), Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda (engineer and architect), Libero Grassi (businessman killed by Cosa Nostra) the painter Francesco Lojacono and the sculptor Mario Rutelli.
Church of the Holy Spirit
- 11 Church of the Holy Spirit (Vespro church), inside the cemetery of Sant'Orsola (From the central station metro line A to the Vespri stop or bus 246 to the Del Vespro-Delle Cliniche stop. Continue on foot.). The building was erected between 1173 and 1178. On March 30, 1282 in front of the church on Easter Tuesday in the hour of vespers begins the popular uprising of the Palermitans against the Angevins known as Sicilian Vespers. Since then the abbey complex has been known as Santo Spirito del Vespro. The plant has three naves with six columns, eight arches and a main chapel by Antonello Gagini. The exterior is presented with polychrome combinations obtained from the alternation of tuff and lava ashlars, which make up delicate geometries, a contamination of Arab-Norman and Gothic styles. The exteriors of the apses have windows with ashlar frames, intertwining ribs, high pointed arches and a grille with Arabian motifs. The side elevations have decorations with lava inlays in the realization of the blind arches.
- 12 Garden of Remembrance, Via Ciaculli (in the hamlet of Ciaculli). Open only for events. It is a park dedicated to all those killed in the fight against the mafia. The garden initiative was born in 2004 from an idea of the journalist Leone Zingales. Trees have been planted in remembrance of the fallen. Under each tree there is a plate with the name of the victim to whom the shrub was dedicated.
- 13 House-Museum of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi, Piazzale Anita Garibaldi, 5 (Tram 1 Missori stop), ☎ 39 0916301150, @[email protected]. Mon, Thu-Sat 09: 30-12: 30. Tue and Thu 15: 00-18: 00. The house museum of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi was opened in 2014 following the beatification of Father Puglisi. In front of the door on September 15, 1993 he was killed by two Mafia hitmen. His tireless work is remembered in this museum.
What to do
- 1 PalaOreto, Via Santa Maria di Gesù, 11.
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Moderate prices
- 1 Buonforno Di Capizzi Rosalia, Via Villagrazia, 499, ☎ 39 091 430226. Mon-Sat 8: 00-20: 00. Bread, sweets and food. Excellent solution if passing through.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 B&B La Casa dei Limoni, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 9, ☎ 39 3348343888, @[email protected].
- 2 Hospitality Hotel, Via Salvatore Morso 41, ☎ 39 091 7470153.
- 3 B&B Palermo Center, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 44, ☎ 39 3802007852, @[email protected]. Comfortable and bright rooms with free WiFi, flat-screen TV, balcony and private bathroom.
How to keep in touch
Useful information
- 16 Buccheri La Ferla Hospital, Via Messina Marine, 127-197, ☎ 39 091 479203. Emergency room
