August 6, 2019 Tuesday Palermo Oratory of San Lorenzo Museo
Regionale Abatellis
We took the 649 bus at the corner to the Termini train
station, and then the Leonardo Express to the Leonardo da Vinci Airport-Fiumicino FCO. We went to Terminal 1 for our flight to
Palermo, it is a domestic flight on Alitalia.
We were of course early for our 11:45 flight. When boarding started it seemed like everyone
was carrying more than one bag onto the plane.
When we got to the gate the agent explained to us that the plane was
crowded and that we would have to check our one roller suitcase. I don’t think I saw anyone else have to check
their bag. There would have been more
than enough room for us to put our roller in the overhead. Other than that the 70 minute flight was
fine. After we landed in Palermo Sue went
to get the tickets for the bus into town while I retrieved our suitcase. The bus wasn’t too far from the exit, so that
was pretty easy. The bus ride was about
one hour. The hotel was only about a 5
minute walk from the bus stop.
When
we checked into our hotel, the Ibis Styles Palermo Cristal they upgraded us
to a Presidential Suite. Sue is
"Gold" with the Accor chain.
On our driving tour of France last year we stayed in Accor Hotels
whenever we could, and that is how Sue got to be “Gold.” Our suite was very nice with a large sitting
room with a couch, TV, and nice table.
The bathroom was very large, and best of all for Sue, it had a big
tub. The bedroom of course had a king
size bed and room to open our suitcase.
We dropped our luggage and then set out to visit the two museums.
The
Oratoray of San Lorenzo was about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. When we were close to the Oratory the last few
blocks were uphill. Sue waited while I
went to check we were at the right place.
I walked up to Piazza where the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
appeared to be CLOSED!!!! I thought the
Oratory was attached to this church. As
I walked back to tell Sue the bad news I noticed door opening halfway back
toward Sue. This was the way into the
Oratory. I hadn’t screwed up again, talk
about relief, whew. The Oratory
was founded in the late 16th century. In
1699 Giacomo Serpotta realized a sumptuous baroque stucco decoration, as you
will see in the photos. The high-tech reproduction
looks pretty good, but you can’t get too close to the painting. I read that most of the “official” opinions
are that the painting has been destroyed.
Who would buy a large famous painting that they couldn’t let anyone know
they owned? I don’t think even a Saudi Prince
or Chinese billionaire are that nuts. We
were there very long before we were off to the Museo Regionale Abatellis to see
a painting on the 1001 list.
The museum was only about a 5 minute walk from the
Oratory. The painting, “The Triumph of
Death” is a very large fresco 20’ x 21’-1” in a room by itself. Wikipedia tells me that the theme of the
Triumph of Death was widespread in the 14th century. If you Google the Triumph of Death, and why
would anyone, you will get many results that are not this fresco. The museum’s collection is primarily
religious works from the 14-16th centuries.
After we finished we walked toward the waterfront. There are many churches in Palermo, and I
take at least one photo of everyone we see.
Thankfully I don’t post them all, just most of them. We came across a huge Banyan tree in a
park. These things are really kind of
neat. The tree is in a park dedicated to a crime
fighting New York City policeman who was assassinated in Palermo in 1909. The mafia has been around for a long time. We eventually got close to the water, Sue
wouldn’t really call it waterfront because there was no beach. We were running out of steam, so this was
close enough. We went back to rest up
before going out for dinner.
Dinner of course was delicious. I will admit that we are easy to please, but
when it comes to food Sue is serious, so if it wasn’t good you would know it. Then it was back to the hotel so Sue could
take a bath in the Presidential tub. The
only concern was if it was too deep to get into and out of. But it was all good, as you can see by the
smile on her face. Tomorrow we are
taking another 3 hour bus ride to Messina.
There are two Caravaggio paintings there.
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