Casa Mo' room and suite

PALERMO & SURROUNDINGS

The History of Palermo

Founded as a seaport city by the Phoenicians around 734 BC, it has a millennial history that has given it a remarkable artistic and architectural heritage ranging from the remnants of the Punic walls to arriving in Liberty style villas, ranging from Arab-Norman-style residences, Baroque churches and neoclassical theaters.

For cultural, artistic and economic reasons it has been one of the major cities in the Mediterranean and today it is among the main tourist destinations of the Italian midday and among the cruise destinations of the Mediterranean basin.

It was capital, from 1130 to 1816, of the Kingdom of Sicily, and the second city of importance to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1861. It is the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, the University of Studies and the main archdiocese of the region.

POLITEAMA THEATER

Located just over 500 meters from our B&B, it is one of the most important theaters in the city of Palermo.

The Garibaldi Theater or "Politeama" (the word Politeama means a generic theater where different kinds of performances are made) was built by Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda and the work started in January 1867. In June 1876 the theater was opened, though incomplete by the Missing cover, and it was inaugurated with "Capuleti e Montecchi" by Vincenzo Bellini.

From 1910 to 2006, the Politeama theatre hosted the Palermo Modern Art Gallery and since 2001 is the seat of the Sicilian Symphonyc Orchestra.

PALERMO & SURROUNDINGS

VIA DELLA LIBERTÀ (FREEDOM AVENUE) AND THE ENGLISH GARDEN

About 50 meters far from Casa Mo 'b&b is located in Viale della Libertà, one of the main avenues of Palermo. Now the main shopping street of the city.

It’s characterized by many Art Nouveau buildings, it ends, passing trough the English Garden, at Vittorio Veneto Square, better known by the citizens as "Statue of Liberty".

PALERMO & SURROUNDINGS

THE MASSIMO THEATER

Just over 800 meters from Casa Mo 'B & B you can admire the "Vittorio Emanuele" theater. The Massimo Vittorio Emanuele theater in Palermo is one of the largest in Europe.

The work was begun in 1875 after troubled events following the 1864 contest won by the architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile. At father's death the theater was completed in 1891 by his son, the architect Ernesto Basile, and finally in 1897 the theater was widely opened for the audience.

For reasons of restoration in 1997 it was reopened after a long period of abandonment, started in 1974. The exterior of the theater follows neo-classical fashion. Is made up of several halls and the great room is dedicated to the architect Ernesto Basile, a refined representative of European Liberty style, who used the decorations and details of Ducrot's valuable work.

The hall was built with a horseshoe shape, with five orders of stage and gallery (well known as "loggione"), has about three thousand and five hundred seats, resulting the largest opera theatre in our country.

The hall features a special mobile ceiling made up of large frescoed wooden panels (petals) and moved by a modular upward opening mechanism that allows the entire room to be ventilated.

This system allows the theater not to need indoor ventilation and air conditioning.

PALERMO & SURROUNDINGS

I 4 CANTI

At less than 1 km from the Casa Mo’b&b, along Via Maqueda, one of the first streets of the city, you will arrive, by crossing the oldest street in the city, to the Cassaro (today known as Corso Vittorio Emanuele), to the "Quattro Canti".

The "Quattro Canti" are exactly the four architectural outlines that delimit the intersection space.

PALERMO & SURROUNDINGS

THE CATHEDRAL

At 1.5 km far from our B & B you can get to the awesome Cathedral of Palermo, dedicated to the Ascension into heaven of the Holy Virgin Mary, which is characterized by several styles due to the various stages of construction, from the year 1185 to the end of the eighteenth century.

The cathedral is flanked by four Norman towers dominated by a dome. To the south is connected to the Archbishop's Palace with two large arches on which the clock tower rises.

In this cathedral, a synthesis of history and art of the last millennium, besides the Norman sovereigns, were also crowned Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoia and Charles III of Borbone, famous figures of Sicilian history.