Palermo Markets

La Vuccirìa de Renato Guttuso

Renato Guttuso, famous Sicilian artist, dedicated a painting, “Vuccirìa di Palermo”, to the Vuccirìa market that soon became one of his most famous works and an emblem of Palermo.  The Vuccirìa, which translates to 'voices' or 'hubbub', just listen for the noise as everyone haggles back and forth, is one of four popular historic markets of Palermo together with Ballarò, ù Capo and Borgo Vecchio.  La Vuccirìa, situated in the side streets around Piazza San Domenico, opens early in the morning when the fishermen arrive with their catch and buyers are already waiting.  As the other vendors are setting up their stalls, the fishermen are already selling the best of their fish and seafood.  There’s a Sicilian expression I love: “Quannu s'asciucanu i balati dà Vucciria,” which means, ‘when the streets of the Vucciria run dry’, meaning, not in this lifetime or in the unforeseeable future.  The Ballarò market extends along Via Ballarò past Piazza Carmine toward Corso Tukory.  The Capo market, located behind the Teatro Massimo, extends from Via Porta Carini off Via Volturno near the old city wall toward Piazza Beati Paoli.  Sicily's outdoor market tradition dates from the ninth-century Saracen rule of the island, which explains their striking similarity to Arab souqs.  The character has remained essentially the same over the centuries; remarkably some of the outdoor markets stand on the very same sites today as they did in the tenth century.  The markets are perhaps the best preserved of Sicily's Arab traditions.

Vendor selling artichokes and favas

Artichokes

A Sicilian street market is a rich mix of sights from a colorful assortment of produce, fish, and meats, groceries and housewares.   Colored tarpaulins cover the stalls for protection from sun or rain.  Vendors hawk their wares creating a cacophony.  Anything you might want; blood oranges, fennel, artichokes, chicory, herbs, capers, cuttlefish, swordfish, prawns, mackerel, sardines, breads, salamis, olives, and cheeses.  Vendors with arancine (fried rice balls filled with ragú), panelle (fried chickpea fritters), stigghiola (goat intestines), pani ca meusa (a sandwich filled with spleen) will satisfy your immediate hunger pangs. 

Wild fennel fronds

Fennel    

Caciocavallo

Capers