Shrine Of Santa Rosalia and Leisure Time

Shrine Of Santa Rosalia and Leisure Time

Today was a somewhat easier day as we only had a morning tour and the afternoon was free time. We were up Mount Pellegrino to the shrine of Santa Rosalia, a cave where the Patron Saint of Palermo is located. She lived in the 11^th century and wanted to become a nun but opted to live her life in solitude. She died at 28. Hundreds of years later the person who found her bones had a vision. It told him to carry her bones around the city as it was suffering from the plague at that time. They did what the vision said. When that happened, the plague was gone. She became Santa Rosalia .

Inside the Cave

The shrine itself is in the cave where she lived. It has a church built inside. There was a mass going on when we were there but we had a full explanation before going in. 0 This is a very catholic area and she is held in high esteem. Hence the patron saint of the city. That basically took up the morning with stops on the side of the road for overviews of the city.

Once we were back in Palermo, we stopped to view the opera house from the outside. That ended our time with the local guide. It was a convenient place bid farewell. It was in the central part of the city. We found our way back down the main street and headed to the royal palace which we had seen the day before. The palace dates back to the 11^th century is the same style as the Monreale which we visited yesterday. We bought tickets to see the royal chapel which was very much is the same style. Someone said that they had the same interior designer. Very ornate with mosaics, patterned floors, etc.

Royal Chapel

We also had a ticket to see many of the artifacts. It was extremely interesting seeing the foundations under the palace which go back the the 3^rd century BC. A visit to the royal gardens ended our tour.

Having walked “miles” we headed back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. Tomorrow, we are moving to our next hotel in Mazara Del Vallo for a 5 night stay, sightseeing along the way. Packing our bags for the move was not something we looked forward to!

We had another very nice meal tonight. It consisted of the sea food risotto. The main course was a very nice swordfish. Both were very tasty. And of course lots of wine. Check out and travel day tomorrow.

tomorrow.