User:GrantDrum/Palermo

Patron saints
The patron saint of Palermo is Saint Rosalia, who is widely revered.

On 14 July, people in Palermo celebrate the annual Festino, the most important religious event of the year. The Festino is a procession which goes through the main street of Palermo to commemorate the miracle attributed to Saint Rosalia who, it is believed, freed the city from the Black Death in 1624. Her remains were discovered in a cave on Monte Pellegrino, and her remains were carried around the city three times, banishing the plague. There is a sanctuary marking the spot where her remains were found which can be reached via a scenic bus ride from the city.

Before 1624 Palermo had four patron saints, one for each of the four major parts of the city. They were Saint Agatha, Saint Christina, Saint Nympha and Saint Olivia. These four saints have their own sculptures dedicated to them in Vigliena Square in Palermo.

Saint Lucy is also honoured with a peculiar celebration, during which the inhabitants of Palermo do not eat anything made with flour, but boil wheat in its natural state and use it to prepare a special dish called cuccìa. This commemorates the saving of the city from famine due to a miracle attributed to Saint Lucy; A ship full of grain mysteriously arrived in the city's harbour and the hungry population wasted no time in making flour but ate the grain as it arrived.

Saint Benedict the Moor is the heavenly protector of the city of Palermo.

The ancient patron of the city was the Genius of Palermo, genius loci and numen protector of the place, that became the laic patron of the modern Palermo.

Sports
Palermo hosts a professional football team, U.S. Citta di Palermo, commonly referred to as simply Palermo, who originally competed in Serie A, now having been relegated to Serie B after the 2016-2017 season.

The Targa Florio was an open road endurance car race held near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it used to be one of the oldest sports car racing events until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. However, it has since run as a rallying event. Palermo was home to the grand depart of the 2008 Giro d'Italia. The initial stage was a 28.5 km TTT (Team Time Trial).

The Internazionali Femminili di Palermo is an annual ladies professional tennis event held in the city, which is part of the WTA Tour.

Italian Capital of Culture 2018
In 2018, the Italian Minister for Cultural Heritage and Art had said that Palermo would be Italy's Capital of Culture for the year. The town was given one million euros to be used for bettering and promoting the cultural activities that the city has to offer.

The official reasons the city received this award are because of the cultural and artistic importance that Palermo gives to the history of Italy. However, because of UNESCO having acknowledged the city as a World Heritage site, as well as the significance of "Manifesta 12" (a biennial festival for contemporary art) being hosted there only helped to achieve this status as well. Manifesta 12 will be taking place at Palermo's botanical garden, the park Piazza Magione, the Church of Saints Euno and Giuliano, and the Palazzo Butera Museum ),

Mafia Involvement
Palermo, like much of Sicily, has been the victim of the Sicilian Mafia for decades. On the 18th of July, 1992, a car bomb ended up killing the chief justice Paolo Bosellino who had been investigating the godfathers of the Sicilian Mafia beforehand. In May of the same year, a similar attack had been made on the car of another judge named Giovanni Falcone.

Comparing the 1990's to now though, the Sicilian Mafia is in a state of decline. One of the former godfathers of the Sicilian Mafia, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, who had terrorized Palermo with crime (especially known for ordering the murder of a 13-year old boy ) previously before being caught and imprisoned in 1992. He passed away on November 17th, 2017 in the prison wing of a hospital the day after he turned 87 years old.