SFERRACAVALLO

On the opposite versant of the mountain, a second bay delimits the northwest versant of the Piana del Gallo. In this bay there is the village of Sferracavallo, which also came into being as a maritime village and in the 19th century became a holiday place. Its urban development followed that of nearby Mondello, with a big growth at the start of the 20th century when the tram connection with the city began.
Today, with the proliferation of tourist and accommodation activities, it is a valid alternative to Mondello.

MONDELLO

Going down the north versant of the Monte Pellegrino, you see the spectacular panorama of the green Piana del Gallo which, dominated by mountains, extends as far as the sea, forming a sandy shore delimiting the bay of Mondello. At the northern extremity there stands the village that gives the name to the bay, which the Arabs called Marsa at Tin, 'mud harbour'. After it was reclaimed, in 1911 the Italo-Belga Company was authorised to do zoning in the area and build roads and facilities, which radically transformed the area.

The seaside house was a status symbol and became so widespread that soon the whole territory was assailed, causing dense urbanization. The first building done at that time was the bathing establishment, designed by Ernesto Basile in about 1910. It is a building with a collective character entirely supported by pylons on the sea, and it is made up of a central part with big salons and two side wings where there are 350 huts. The connection with the terra firma is by means of a pier, also on pylons, with a monumental exedra-shaped entrance. It soon became popular with the Palermo middle classes who, coming there first from the city and then directly from Mondello, frequented it for the customary summer bathes.

However, the element characterising the new fashion in the Mondello area, as mentioned, was the seaside house, the spread of which was favoured by two essential events.

The first was the reclaiming of the marsh, at the behest of the Prince of Scalea, in 1898.

The second event, in the early 20th century, was the awakening of a new taste for culture in Italy, which led to new developments. In Palermo this new taste found a fertile terrain thanks to the collaboration between successful entrepreneurs like the Florios, the Whitakers and the Utveggios and major architects like Basile, Rivas, Di Pisa and De Giovanni, so much so that at present it is considered the city where the most important vestiges survive. Among the recognisable architectural motifs that characterise the art nouveau villa are the tower element, conceived by Basile and introduced by all architects of the day, and decorations with soft and sinuous shapes, often depicting floral elements.

Art nouveau, in addition to being an architectural style, became a fashion, and this was a period of enormous creativity, also expressed in details like metal elements, railings, gates, windows, furniture, and even little furnishings in houses.

The aesthetic interest of the period also extended to the laying out of gardens; coloured flowers but above all a lot of exotic plants provided further decoration for the elegant structure of the villa.

Going along the streets in Mondello and in general in the whole Piana del Gallo area, you notice a very big number of truncated cone or cylindrical towers, built in irregular stones. Their constructions dates from the 15th century, a period in which the seas were infested by pirates, who often landed to make raids in the countryside or in smaller places to get provisions.

In order to deal with this threat the Palermo Senate deliberated the construction of numerous lookout towers at all strategic points to alert the city and prepare adequate defences.

Entering the village of Mondello, right opposite the foreshore now swallowed up among more recent constructions, you see the Torre della Tonnara di Mondello (tower of the Mondello tuna station), built in 1455.

It had two floors, on the first of which there was a big water reservoir against emergencies in the case of a prolonged siege, while on the second it was possible to survey the territory with a 360° view. No less famous was the Torre del Ficodindia (rickly pear tower), located on the same shore where the present-day Hotel La Torre is. It owed its name to the luxuriant prickly pear vegetation that once enwrapped it, as we see from a French illustration done in 1699.