Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/834

 820 PALERMO and defended by bastions. The harbor is pro- tected by a strong citadel and Forts Galita and Sant' Erasmo, and the lighthouse battery. Pa- lermo is divided into four nearly equal parts by the corso Vittorio Emmanuele (previous to 1860 the Oassaro or via Toledo) and the corso Garibaldi (formerly via Macqueda or strada Nuovo), which intersect each other at right angles in the centre of the city. The longer of these runs from the sea to the royal palace, which is at the inland extremity of the city. At their intersection is the large piazza Yigliena or Quattro Cantoni, which is octagonal, having upon four sides the vista of these streets, and upon each of the others a handsome building in the Grecian style. There is a larger square before the palace, in which is a bronze statue of Philip IY. of Spain. Numerous smaller streets without any regular plan run into these two, but are all narrower and dirty. The whole city is well paved with large blocks of lava. The Marina, a terrace 80 yards' wide, extending for about a mile along the seaside, is the finest and most popular place of public resort. The corso Garibaldi con- tains more churches and palaces and the cor- so Vittorio Emmanuele more shops, and both are alike remarkable for animation. Every house is abundantly supplied with pure water from the numerous reservoirs (giarre), which were originally established by the Saracens, generally at the corners of the streets. The houses generally are built in the same style as those of Naples, with flat roofs, terraces, and Venetian blinds ; they are divided into flats, each flat forming a distinct dwelling. The principal public edifice is the royal palace, at the S. W. extremity of the town. The cathe- dral is a Gothic structure of the 12th century, to which a modern dome has been added ; the Cathedral of Palermo. interior is supported by 80 pillars of oriental granite, and divided into chapels. This ca- thedral contains many mausolea in red por- phyry, among them those of Roger, the Nor- man founder of the Sicilian monarchy, and the emperor Frederick II. The south porch is the most highly ornamented, and has a celebrated marble doorway exquisitely carved. The ^ crypt, E. of the choir, popularly called Tutti i Santi, and occasionally the catacombs, measures about 100 ft. from N. to S. and 30 ft. from E. to W. exclusive of the apses, and contains more than 20 sarcophagi with the remains of local archbishops. The chapel of Santa Maria, the place of coronation of the Sicilian kings, was destroyed by the bombard- ment of 1860. The richest of all chapels is that of Santa Rosalia, constructed in 1631, some time after the discovery of a chest of solid silver of the weight of nearly 1 300 Ibs., containing the remains of that patron saint of Palermo. (See Die Cathedrale zu Palermo, by Becker and Forster, folio, Vienna, 1866.) Palermo is distinguished for the number and magnificence of its churches. One of the most gorgeous is that of Santa Oaterina, finished in 1596. It is a large edifice of Corinthian architecture in the shape of a cross, with a single aisle and a dome. Within the choir the pavement consists of marbles in Florentine mosaic. The most celebrated among the nu- merous paintings is a Madonna, variously attrib- uted to Rubens and to Vandyke. The Oasa Professa, consecrated in 1636, and formerly belonging to the Jesuits, is remarkable for its size and adornments, and contains some of the finest of Novelli's pictures. Red, white, and black marbles are conspicuous in many parts of this church. Among other churches noted for magnificence is that of San Domenico, founded