Description
The Quattro Canti is the octagonal square that marks the center of Palermo: here the two axes of the old city cross, the Cassaro, today Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and Via Maqueda. The four curved façades, one for each corner, form a Baroque stage set of fountains, statues and coats of arms, best enjoyed by turning slowly on the spot.
The official name is Piazza Villena, after the Spanish viceroy, the Marquis of Villena, but old sources remember it as the Octagon or the Theater of the Sun. At any hour of the day at least one of the four façades is lit by the sun.
Each façade reads from bottom to top, like a climb from nature to heaven. At the base are the river fountains of the ancient city, Oreto, Kemonia, Pannaria and Papireto. Above, in a Doric order, the four seasons, represented by Aeolus, Venus, Ceres and Bacchus.
Higher up, in the Ionic order, are the Spanish rulers: Charles V, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV. At the top are the four saints of Palermo, Agatha, Ninfa, Oliva and Christina, patrons of the city before the arrival of Saint Rosalia in 1624.
The idea was born in 1608, when the viceroy entrusted the Florentine architect Giulio Lasso with arranging the crossroads. The model was Rome's Quattro Fontane, but the Palermo version turned out far richer. Lasso died before it was finished and the work passed to Mariano Smiriglio, who changed the program.
By 1609 the structural part of the two corners of Santa Ninfa and Sant'Agata was already finished, with the viceroy's coats of arms; by 1612 the one of Santa Cristina was complete.
In place of the kings, at the top, he put the saints. The marble statues, carved by Carlo D'Aprile between 1661 and 1663, came long after the works began. An old saying summed up the spirit of the place: "feasts and gallows at Piazza Villena," because here people celebrated and carried out executions.
Along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the right façade of the church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini was decorated in 1844 and is called the Fifth Corner.
The square is also a film set: some scenes of the 2008 film Palermo Shooting were shot here.
Don't miss
• The river fountains.
• The four seasons.
• The saints Agatha, Ninfa, Oliva and Christina.
• The Fifth Corner.
Did you know?
• The statues of the kings were meant to be in bronze: of the four planned, only two were made, and neither ended up here.
• The lower basins of the fountains date from the 19th century: they made up for the difference in level that arose when the square was lowered.
The official name is Piazza Villena, after the Spanish viceroy, the Marquis of Villena, but old sources remember it as the Octagon or the Theater of the Sun. At any hour of the day at least one of the four façades is lit by the sun.
Each façade reads from bottom to top, like a climb from nature to heaven. At the base are the river fountains of the ancient city, Oreto, Kemonia, Pannaria and Papireto. Above, in a Doric order, the four seasons, represented by Aeolus, Venus, Ceres and Bacchus.
Higher up, in the Ionic order, are the Spanish rulers: Charles V, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV. At the top are the four saints of Palermo, Agatha, Ninfa, Oliva and Christina, patrons of the city before the arrival of Saint Rosalia in 1624.
The idea was born in 1608, when the viceroy entrusted the Florentine architect Giulio Lasso with arranging the crossroads. The model was Rome's Quattro Fontane, but the Palermo version turned out far richer. Lasso died before it was finished and the work passed to Mariano Smiriglio, who changed the program.
By 1609 the structural part of the two corners of Santa Ninfa and Sant'Agata was already finished, with the viceroy's coats of arms; by 1612 the one of Santa Cristina was complete.
In place of the kings, at the top, he put the saints. The marble statues, carved by Carlo D'Aprile between 1661 and 1663, came long after the works began. An old saying summed up the spirit of the place: "feasts and gallows at Piazza Villena," because here people celebrated and carried out executions.
Along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the right façade of the church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini was decorated in 1844 and is called the Fifth Corner.
The square is also a film set: some scenes of the 2008 film Palermo Shooting were shot here.
Don't miss
• The river fountains.
• The four seasons.
• The saints Agatha, Ninfa, Oliva and Christina.
• The Fifth Corner.
Did you know?
• The statues of the kings were meant to be in bronze: of the four planned, only two were made, and neither ended up here.
• The lower basins of the fountains date from the 19th century: they made up for the difference in level that arose when the square was lowered.