You can discover the underground city or enjoy an aperitif overlooking the Cathedral, watch the Genie or Santa Rosalia played by puppets, imagine the nuns behind the grates, read the names of the Florios on the monumental tombs, fly over the city on an agile Piper or look at it from sea and find it beautiful. And for those who want to combine a journey of faith with a journey into nature, it is right to rely on the friars of the convent of Santa Maria del Gesù and climb with them to the famous cypress of San Benedetto il Moro which – after the disastrous fire last July – it is slowly being reborn at the hands of the entire community of Santa Maria di Gesù: every day many climb the steep path to water the plant and, perhaps, recommend themselves to the saint.
In fact, the second weekend of the third edition of the Il Genio di Palermo festival has just begun, organized by the Le Vie dei Tesori Foundation together with the University of Palermo, in the wake of the Third Mission of the University, with public and private bodies participating in the project.
We are in the second of the three scheduled weekends, almost twenty places are open and unmissable experiences and walks are available: the Historical Archive with its ingenious contraptions or the Famedio in the Casa Professa library; Palazzo Asmundo with its precious collections and overlooking the Cathedral; the Pasqualino Museum; Palazzo Costantino with the surviving fresco by Velasco; Palazzo Oneto di Sperlinga reborn through contemporary art; the sumptuous Villa Niscemi opens its doors; Palazzo Comitini, with the tapestry of the Genius; the two water cathedrals open, the Gabriel Sources and the San Ciro Reservoirs, not far from both the church dedicated to the saint at the foot of Monte Grifone and the Giants’ Caves (open on Saturday and Sunday). You must not miss the opportunity to go down into the Crypt of the Repented to find the souls of the redeemed prostitutes, listening to their story; to follow the friars to discover the Convent of Santa Maria di Gesù; to go up Porta Felice to observe the sea on one side and the long Cassaro on the other. And above all to discover Villa Alliata di Pietratagliata, the residence of the wizard prince Raniero who locked himself up here for 35 years, dedicated to his studies of occult sciences and entomology: it was reborn as a boutique hotel, but it will not fail to fascinate.
There are many experiences, all unmissable. From the boat tour on the legendary Lisca Bianca to the flight in a four-seater Piper, from the special route among the 5000 tiles of the Stanze al Genio, guided by the collector Pio Mellina, to the collections of period clothes and linens conducted by Raffaello Piraino; from the aperitif among the treasures of Palazzo Asmundo, to the visit at sunset among the tropical species of the Botanical Garden to the puppet shows of the historic Argento family in the little theater in an alley in front of the Cathedral. Declined devotion: the professor of technical architecture Giovanni Fatta draws from his book “Behind a grate” to reconstruct the silent lodges of the nuns on the Cassaro; and with the friars you will be able to visit the noble chapels of Santa Maria del Gesù or follow a route along the paths of Monte Grifone, up to the places where Blessed Matteo, Fra’ Innocenzo and San Benedetto il Moro lived.
There are five walks scheduled for this second weekend of the festival, each one different from the other, led by accredited guides and experts who will delve into the different themes. On Saturday we will go on the trail of the Leopard between the two Tomasi homes and at night we will discover the story of the stabbers of 1862 through the eyes of Leonardo Sciascia; on Sunday we will instead delve into the Favorita paths. And the walk in the footsteps of the Florios at the dawn of the National Exhibition which gave birth to the Palermo of the Belle Époque is divided into two chapters over the two (equally evocative) days.
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