Piazza Pretoria is at the limits of the district of
Kalsa
Kalsa or Mandamento Tribunali is a historical quarter of the Italian city of Palermo in Sicily. It is sometimes referred to as la Kalsa or the Kalsa.
Names
The common name of the quarter, ''Kalsa'', derives from the district's historic Arabic ...
, near the corner of
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." ...
with Via Maqueda, just a few meters from the
Quattro Canti
Quattro Canti, officially known as Piazza Vigliena, is a Baroque square in Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy; it is considered the center of the historic quarters of the city. The site is the intersection of two major streets in Palermo, the Via Maq ...
, the intersection where all the four ancient quarters intersect, in the city 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 ...
, region of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
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, demographi ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
History
At the center of the square is the
Fontana Pretoria; this fountain had originally been designed in 1554 by
Francesco Camilliani for the
Palace of San Clemente in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. The Senate of Palermo, in 1573, seeking to embellish this city with a grandiose monument purchased the fountain, and transported here.
The large fountain was meant for a large open space, and required several home in this area to be demolished. The fountain was re-adapted to the site with the addition of new parts. By 1581, the fountain had been installed in this square, sporting sixteen nude statues of nymphs, humans, mermaids and satyrs. The fountain has not always been admired. Since the 18th-century, due to the prolific nudity, some called this the ''Fontana della Vergogna'' (Fountain of Shame).
Description
Three of the four sides are enclosed by buildings: the
Praetorian Palace
The Praetorian Palace ( sl, Pretorska palača, it, palazzo Pretorio) is a 15th-century Venetian Gothic palace in the city of Koper, in southwest Slovenia. Located on the southern side of the city's central Tito Square (at ''Titov trg/piazza T ...
(the town hall) built in fourteenth century and renovated in nineteenth century; the
Church of St. Catherine (end of sixteenth century); and two baronial palaces,
Palazzo Bonocore and
Palazzo Bordonaro. On the fourth side of the square a staircase, flanked by two lions made with gray marble from Billiemi, sculpted by
Domenico Costantino and installed in 1877, descends to
Via Maqueda.
{{commons category, Piazza Pretoria (Palermo)
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
Renaissance architecture in Palermo