Palermo Mafia & Antimafia Audio Tour

Hotel delle Palme – The Secret Summit of Cosa Nostra. The large liberty windows, the refined salons and the aristocratic atmosphere tell the story of Palermo of the Belle Époque, when the city tried to establish itself as the cultural capital of the Mediterranean. But behind the charm of this hotel lies one of the darkest and most decisive stories of international crime of the twentieth century...

The Palace of the Maxi Trial. We find ourselves in front of the Palace of Justice in Palermo, a place that for many years has represented the invisible border between fear and hope, between the criminal power of Cosa Nostra and the courage of a State finally determined to react ...

The Port of Palermo – Between Smuggling and Power. For centuries this place has been the meeting point between Palermo and the world. Merchant ships, fishermen, emigrants, soldiers, traders and travellers have passed through different cultures, languages and destinies. The sea, for Palermo, has never been just landscape. ...

The Cathedral and the Secrets of Sicilian Power. Its towers, domes and golden stones from the sun tell almost a thousand years of Sicilian history. Arab, Norman, Gothic and Baroque cultures coexist here. Each era has left its mark, transforming this cathedral into a mirror of Palermo's complex identity. But this place does not just tell about faith and art ...

No Mafia Memorial – Stories of Resistance. Here you will not only find documents, photographs or historical testimonies. You'll find mostly human stories. Stories of people who, at different times, chose to oppose fear. This space was born with a specific objective: to tell the mafia not as a legend, folklore or criminal myth, but as a system that has deeply marked ...

Independence Square – Politics and Shadows of Power. Here Palermo holds almost three thousand years of political history. Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards and Italians ruled Sicily passing through this same urban point, transforming it into the heart of the island’s power ...

Piazza Magione – The Childhood of the magistrates Falcone and Borsellino. You are in Piazza Magione, a space that today appears open, bright and crossed by the daily life of Palermo. Children playing, students sitting on benches, families, bicycles, voices slowly filling the Kalsa district. But this square holds a much deeper history than it seems...

Piazza Marina – Processes, Secrets and Power. Piazza Marina was for centuries one of the most important political centers of ancient Palermo. Here stood the residences of the Sicilian aristocracy, the most influential merchants and the families who controlled much of the economic life of the city. Among all the buildings surrounding the square, one tells more about the relationship between justice and power than any other ...

Piazza Pretoria – Intrigue, Politics and Mafia. At the center of the square dominates the monumental Fontana Pretoria, surrounded by marble statues, mythological figures and water features that seem to transform this space into an open-air theater. Yet behind this refined beauty lies a story of power, silent accords and tensions that have swept through the city for centuries ...

Four Songs – The Heart of Palermo Power. Here the two great historical arteries of the city cross: Via Maqueda and the Cassaro, now called Corso Vittorio Emanuele. This elegant and theatrical octagonal space has been the symbolic heart of Palermo’s power for centuries. The Four Songs were not only conceived as an urban crossroads ...

San Domenico – Between State Funerals and Mysteries. San Domenico is known as the “Pantheon of Palermo”. Inside rest nobles, artists, patriots and illustrious figures of Sicilian history. Among monumental tombs, Baroque chapels and solemn naves, this church tells the profound relationship between Palermo and its public memory. But in recent decades San Domenico has also become one of the symbolic places of pain caused by the mafia and the ...

Teatro Massimo – Palermo between Power and Rebirth. Yet, behind this magnificence, Palermo was already experiencing deep tensions. During the twentieth century, while the theater went through moments of splendor and long periods of closure, the city changed its face. The mafia consolidated its ...

Ucciardone – Inside the Criminal Heart of Palermo. The prison was inaugurated in 1831 during the Bourbon reign. At the time it was considered a modern facility, designed according to innovative criteria for the control of prisoners. With the growth of mafia power in Palermo, the Ucciardone began to host some of the most important Sicilian bosses ...

Via D’Amelio – The Silence of the Massacre. We are in Via D’Amelio, a seemingly simple street, immersed in the daily life of Palermo. Parked cars, balconies, trees, the distant noise of the city. Yet this place holds one of the deepest silences in contemporary Italian history. Here one of the most dramatic mafia massacres took place ...

Via Libertà – Elegance, Money and Mafia Power. Here walked aristocrats, entrepreneurs, politicians and influential families. Via Libertà was the symbol of Sicilian wealth and modernity. A street built to show prestige, elegance and social power. And behind the sophistication of this avenue also moved an invisible part of the city ...

Vucciria – The Palermo of Omertà and Change. We are at the Vucciria Point of Sale, one of the most famous, contradictory and symbolic places in Palermo. Here the city shows its most intense face. An interweaving of decadent beauty, popular memory, noise, shadows and profound transformations ...