Italy Guide
Sicily
The Capo district
The Capo quarter is a tight web of impoverished streets home to yet another market. Just around the corner from Piazza del Monte is the fine church of Sant'Agostino (Mon– Sat 7am– noon & 4–6pm, Sun 7am– noon; free), built in the thirteenth century. Above its main door (on Via Raimondo) there's a latticework rose window, and inside, some calming sixteenth-century cloisters. The stalls of the clothes market (daily 8am to around 8pm) along Via Sant'Agostino run all the way down to Via Maqueda and beyond, the streets off to the left gradually becoming wider and more nondescript as they broach the area around the monumental Neoclassic Teatro Massimo, supposedly the largest theatre in Italy. To appreciate the interior fully take a tour (Tues– Sun every 30min 10.30am–3.30pm, except during rehearsals; €5), or attend one of the classical concerts or operas held here between October and June.
The theatre marks the dividing line between old and new Palermo. Via Maqueda becomes Via Ruggero Settimo, which cuts up through the gridded shopping streets to the huge double square made up of Piazza Castelnuovo and Piazza Ruggero Settimo (commonly referred to as Piazza Politeama). Dominating the whole lot is Palermo's other massive theatre, the Politeama Garibaldi, topped by a flamboyant statue group of sword-brandishing figures on leaping horses.