Palermo’s historic markets really are living monuments! One cannot visit this wonderful city without admiring these spectacular and picturesque markets. They are in fact almost a summary of the colourful and cheerful nature and of the multifaceted and cosmopolitan culture of Palermo’s citizens. Plunge into the bright colours, the thick smell and the intense flavours that come from the typical stalls, it is truly an experience not to be missed.
Walking through the alleys and streets of this historic markets, you can indeed learn a lot of Palermo’s traditions. The markets are in fact a kind of soul of Palermo. As you penetrate into the bowels of these markets you are constantly accompanied by people praising in a loud voice the products they sell, and often in a quite colourful way, by various vendors who invite you to buy their goods.
This colourful invitation is called “abbanniata” in the dialect of Palermo. And in fact part of the show is also to listen to this “folk music” , typical of the historical markets. It will therefore be equally hilarious to stand aside to observe the bargaining, typical Arab heritage, between the buyer and the seller in the exhausting sale-purchase transactions.
On the other hand, the traditional market, was founded primarily to allow everyone to choose quality products, but trying to buy at discount prices. Markets are almost always open from early morning to evening. Only the night will allow a quick and well-deserved rest. In these historic markets you can buy a little of everything, but mainly fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. So we say that every self-respecting Palermo’s citizen, knows which market to choose according to what he needs to buy.
[Photos from various Flickr.com users]
Tag: Ballarò Palermo, Capo Palermo, Historical Market, Holidays in Sicily, Last Minute Sicily, Sicily, Vucciria Palermo
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