Palermo during the Spanish Era

Under the Spanish crown, the island entered the age of the Viceroys (Sicily was no longer a royal residence and lost its importance).

Sicily became a viceroyalty in the early 1400s, when Ferdinand of Aragon (grandson of the King Martin the Old) was appointed the new king. Under his crown, in 1415 the first viceroy Juan de Pañafiel, arrived in Palermo. Throughout the 15th century, the viceroy was a trustee of the sovereign, then he took on his definitive form with his powers and duties in the 16th century under Charles V.

Since the sovereigns lived in Madrid, they tried to strengthen the bond with their territories by celebrating the royal family’s anniversaries (weddings, baptisms, coronations) with magnificence in the most important cities of their kingdom, including Palermo.

Thus, the so-called Royal Palace square became the privileged stage on which these celebrations took place. In 1469, this square in front of the Royal Palace was the venue for the wedding celebrations of two sovereigns who were important in our history: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile (the Catholic Monarchs).

Their Reign marked  the birth of the Kingdom of Spain because of the union of the Kingdoms of Castile and of Aragon. It marked also the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily (in 1487, the first men of the Inquisition arrived in Palermo with the aim of ensuring the orthodoxy of those who had converted to Christianity from Judaism and Islam). 1492 was also the age of  the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from the Kingdom of Spain, so also from Sicily that was part of the Kingdom (while Christopher Columbus was making his voyage to the New World).

Therefore, between 1492 and 1501, Jews and Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity or to leave the country. These facts damaged the island’s economy because it lost a large group of skilled professionals and the opportunity to trade with North Africa.

At the beginning of the 1500s, Charles V ascended the throne of Spain. He was the son of Philip of Habsburg (known as ‘The Handsome’), from whom he inherited the Empire, and Joanna of Castile and Aragon (known as ‘The Mad’), from whom he inherited the Kingdom of Spain. Charles V reigned from 1516 to 1554 and during his Empire, precisely in 1545, the Catholic Counter-Reformation began, which marked the definitive separation between Catholics and Protestants and was the springboard for the birth of the Baroque style.

The period of Charles V was very difficult and dangerous for other reasons as well. In fact, due to the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from the Kingdom of Spain by his grandparents, the number of vagabonds roaming the Mediterranean and engaging in illegal trade increased, and as a result, piracy was born.

Sicily was in danger, and Charles V ordered the architect and military engineer Antonio Ferramolino to fortify the entire island and especially the main cities.

The bastioned walls of Palermo, still visible today on the seafront (the so-called Mura delle Cattive) and on the outside of the Royal Palace on the Piazza Indipendenza side (the so-called Bastion of Charles V), as well as the majestic Porta Nuova with its masks and sculptures of defeated Muslims were built on that occasion.

Many other fortifications were built in that time everywhere in Sicily: the bastions of Catania, the outer circle of the castle of Milazzo, the fortifications of Messina and many towers that still today surround the perimeter of Sicily along the coast). 

The sculpture of Charles V, dressed as a Roman emperor, still stands today on a high pedestal in Piazza Bologni and on one side of the Quattro Canti in Palermo.

The urban planning of the city was changed during that long period of time. Palermo was transformed into a construction site, where the creation of Baroque squares, the opening of new roads, and the construction and decoration of new churches changed its appearance.

In the second half of the 1500s, Corso Vittorio Emanuele was extended to reach the sea, becoming the long road that still characterizes the historic center today. The intersection of this road with Via Maqueda, at the beginning of the 1600s, led to the creation of the Quattro Canti, a splendid Baroque square and the beating heart of the city still today. It should be remembered that Via Maqueda was opened by a Spanish viceroy, Bernardino de Càrdenas, Duke of Maqueda.

The wonderful Piazza Pretoria, with its 16th-century Florentine fountain, took shape during that intense period of construction.

Magnificent Baroque churches rich in marble and frescoes, such as the Church of Jesus (the Jesuit order was founded by the will of two young Spaniards, Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier) and the Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, were built during the Spanish era. They showed the power and wealth of the Catholic Church.

During those centuries the Royal Palace of Palermo changed in appearance and function: from a royal residence in Medieval times, it first became the seat of the Inquisition Court and then the residence of the Viceroys.

The square in front of the palace was the place of parties and celebrations of the Spanish crown (today, the square of the Royal Palace no longer exists; instead of it there is the lush Villa Bonanno with its countless exotic plants and date palms, created in the early 1900s by the mayor Pietro Bonanno).

So, on a hand from a historical point of view Sicily suffered a significant loss of importance and power during the Spanish Era, on the other hand Palermo was enriched with new architecture and works of art that changed its appearance, leading to what it looks like today.