Piazza Marina is a square of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. It is located down the

Cassaro Cassaro ( Sicilian: ''Càssaru'', in the local dialect: ''Càssuru'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). The name is originally from the Arabic word القصر (''al-Qasru'') meaning "the castle." ...

street, in the quarter of the Kalsa, within the historic centre of Palermo. The square is dominated by the great Garibaldi Garden.

History

In the Middle Ages the area of Piazza Marina was a swamp connected to the ancient port of Palermo, the Cala. During the 14th century the area was cleared. In the Spaniard period, the space of the square was used by the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

(whose headquarters was the adjacent

Palazzo Chiaramonte Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri is a Gothic-style palace located on via Piazza Marina, facing the Giardino Garibaldi in the ancient quarter of Kalsa of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. History The building, intended to be the family palace or castle ...

) for its convictions. In 1863,

Giovan Battista Filippo Basile Giovan Battista Filippo Basile (August 8, 1825 in Palermo – June 16, 1891) was an Italian architect. Born to a family of humble means. From childhood, Vincenzo Tineo, an erudite horticulturalist in Palermo, recognized Basile's talent, and was ...

designed the Garibaldi Garden, named after national hero

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

, at the centre of Piazza Marina. This garden is famous because the biggest ''

Ficus macrophylla ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...

'' of Europe is situated in it. In the zone of Piazza Marina are also located several buildings like Palazzo Chiaramonte, Palazzo Galletti di San Cataldo, Palazzo Fatta, Palazzo Notarbartolo di Villarosa Dagnino, Palazzo delle Finanze, the

Hotel de France A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, the Teatro Libero, the churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, San Giovanni dei Napoletani and Santa Maria della Catena and the

Fontana del Garraffo The Garraffo Fountain (Italian: Fontana del Garraffo) is a Baroque fountain of Palermo. It is located in Piazza Marina, down the ancient Cassaro street, now called Via Vittorio Emanuele, within the historic centre of Palermo. History The name ...

. On March 12, 1909, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

police officer

Joe Petrosino Joseph Petrosino (born Giuseppe Petrosino, ; August 30, 1860 – March 12, 1909) was an Italian-born New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. Crime fighting techniques that Petrosino ...

was killed in Piazza Marina during a top secret mission against the Mafia. Petacco A. ''Joe Petrosino'', Milan, Mondadori 1972. Later a small memorial (an engraved brass plate on a pole) was erected on the square in his remembrance.

References

{{Reflist

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

History

See also

References