Gathered in guilds, they often lived or worked close together. Today many of these professions no longer exist but we continue to read them in the toponymy of the city
Some have transformed, evolved, others have disappeared completely.
The old jobs they remained there, written in the streets of Palermo to testify to a past time, when these workers united in corporations with their own statutes and privileges.
They lived on the same street or in the same neighborhood, they supported each other in times of need, sometimes they were related to each other or simply considered each other friends.
Many cultivated the same devotions, they entrusted themselves to a saint Patron in whose name they gathered to pray in oratories or small churches built with their profits.
Sometimes these associations were so strong that the city administration entrusted the supervision of the city to some corporations. Even popular revolts were often led or organized by workers’ associations.
The workers’ corporations they were officially abolished on 3 October 1821 by King Ferdinand of Bourbon because they were considered useless, if not actually harmful to the economy of the Kingdom itself.
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And so, the artisans with their crafts continued their work. The memory of some of them remains in the memory toponyms of the streets of Palermo.
We remember the most famous and the most curious.
Silversmiths
This is a craftsmanship closely linked to that of the goldsmiths, established in 1477. The master silversmiths were experts in the creation of works of art for churches, fine tableware, for the noble classes or small sculptures commissioned by the people to be used as ex- vote.
Children
The name might be deceiving: they weren’t the babysitters they once were. The mastery of nannies, known as childrenddarabrought together the craftsmen who modeled the statuettes of the baby Jesus and other sacred images in wax.
Cafisari
The cafisu Sicilian was a metal container used to measure oil and also a unit of measurement. From the use of this vessel, they were called caphysari traders who sold olive oil wholesale.
Boilermakers
THE quarararathe Sicilian name for coppersmiths, were the artisans who manufactured pots, pans and other metal dishes used for food (the copper ones were covered with a protective tin foil by the so-called stagnatarians). The coppersmiths’ workforce is still active in the street of the same name.
Boilermakers
The boilermakers’ guild is the sellers’ guild quarumthat is, veal entrails particularly appreciated in Palermo street food.
Shoemakers
Trousers were tailors who specialized in making and repairing trousers. The same street for a period had the name of via dei cammisari (evidently they changed specialization).
Candlesticks
Candlemakers were the masters of wax. In their workshops they made candles for domestic and votive use before the advent of wax factories.
Teamsters
The carters were not the drivers of the carts, but those who built them. Many of them were true artists, skilled in painting decorations and finishes.
Paper makers
The name comes from the manufacturers of playing cards, a rather prosperous business at one time. THE paper makers they had their shops in the Capo area, but from the second half of the 18th century they moved to the so-called Piano dei Cartari, near Piazza Borsa. Today the street and the Cartari arch preserve his memory.
Keysmiths
The keysmith’s trade involved forging keys, locks, latches and everything needed to bar doors.
Knifemakers
THE cutlers they were the blacksmiths specialized in making knives, scissors and bladed weapons. The swordsmen who forged swords, while the sheaths were sewn in the “Contrada Vaginorum”, all in the Porta dei Patitelli district.
Cordaro
There was no street dedicated to hemp rope makers. However, there is a courtyard dedicated to this craftsman, evidently he must have been a particularly capable one.
Couriers
THE couriers they were practically the current postmen and the courier was their office. The headquarters were in the Palace of the Marquis who for generations had dealt with the Kingdom’s correspondence.
Believers
This is a false friend: the credencieri did not build beliefs, but were special servants of the noble families who had to taste the foods to make sure they were not poisoned.
Crucifixaries
At that time it was very common to have crucifixes carved from bone at home, and these craftsmen specialized in making them.
Frangiai
Those who practiced this profession did not limit themselves to spinning cotton or silk fringes to hem shawls, capes or curtains, but supplied all the haberdashery products. In fact, this street in the Loggia neighborhood was once called Via dei Filanderi and then Via dei Bottonai.
Lampinelli
Not to be confused with i lamplighters who had the task of turning on and off the street lamps in the main streets, i street lamps they were blacksmiths specialized in the construction of small lanterns (called lampionelli) which were used for those who had to go out at night and later in private homes.
Lattarini
Today in the area of lattarini there are shops selling casual clothing, military uniforms and other unusual clothing, but the toponym does not refer to them. The most accepted opinion is that a grocers’ market with an Arabic name was organized in this street, Suk-el-Attarina name found in various markets in Muslim cities.
Macaroni
THE macaroni makers they were the artisans who prepared the packaged pasta by drying it in the air, hanging it in the canes or placing it in the maidde (wooden chests of drawers). There were also specialists who were able to prepare special formats such as vermicellar.
Masters of water
Today we would call them fountain workers or plumbers, but in the past there were no private water systems. This guild was initially aggregated with that of the bricklayers. When the water tower system developed, the workers acquired a specific role and increased their prestige.
Mattresses
As the name itself indicates, they were the mattress manufacturers. Initially, mattresses were obtained by filling bags with straw, legume pods and other soft material. For the richest, they then moved on to feathers and wool and even the wrapping became more refined through the use of fine and decorated fabrics.
Musicians
The short staircase from Piazza Pretoria to Cassaro is dedicated to the musicians (today the toponym has been absorbed by Piazza Pretoria itself). The musicians were instrumentalists paid by the Palermo Senate who used them to accompany the senators and nobles during solemn parades around the city, on the occasion of civil or religious holidays. From that staircase they were falling that is, they went down the main street.
Nassaioli
There pot it is the wicker basket used for fishing, and the nassaioli were the ones who built them but also who used them, therefore this guild was aggregated with that of the fishermen.
Pyrrhiaturi
The pyrriaturi were the so-called stonecutters, those workers who extracted the stones from the quarries (pyrrhea in Sicilian). A very hard job that had no particular fame, even if some of these workers were quite skilled in sculpting and carving the stones that we still find today in the precious decorations of churches and noble palaces.
I bled
Although they are no longer common today, it was once typical to eat black pudding, i.e. sausages filled with pig’s blood. THE I bled they were usually the chianchieri (butchers, from the name of the cutting board made with a tree stump called in Sicilian chianca) specialized in the preparation of this specialty.
Schioppettieri
They were the craftsmen who sold firearms. Once upon a time the road was called via dei balestrieri and then via degli archibusieri, with the evolution of artillery it took the name of schioppettieri.
Fuck
The brooms of the past were made with sorghum (ddisa in Sicilian), a particularly resistant herb that was dried and then tied and tied in bundles to a stick. There were cruder brooms, made of tree twigs tied together and used mainly for cleaning public streets.
Flying chairs
The name lights up fantasies of chairs that fly by magic or for some family mischief. In reality they were means of transport that numerous specialized craftsmen made, namely sedan chairs.
Chairmen
THE chairmen they carried the sedan chairs, loading them on their shoulders with the sturdy wooden planks. They may have been employed by the nobles, but there were those who worked on their own, transporting customers for short journeys into the city, obviously for a fee.
Zimmillari
That of the zimmillari it is one of the professions that has been lost over time. They were artisans specialized in making large baskets called zimmili, fundamental in the ancient system of transporting goods, on the back of a mule or on carts.
Gypsies
The gypsy district in the Albergheria district indicated for many centuries a disreputable area where colonies of gypsies had settled. Over time these now integrated communities specialized in iron work and especially in the making of nails and chains.
