Piazza della Minerva - Piazzas of Italy by Ultimate Italy

Piazza Castelnuovo

Piazza Castelnouvo may just be the square where you can begin exploring the beautiful city of Palermo as the main tourist offices of the city are situated here. The new city centre begins from this square. Some also refers to this piazza as Piazza Politeama as the main attraction of this square is the Teatro Politeama.

The Teatro Politeama was built between 1867and 1875. The famous architect Guiseppe Damiani Almeida constructed it. It was named in honour of the Italian patriot and soldier Guiseppe Garibaldi. It was initially built as an open- air theatre. In 1877 Damiani Almeida added a cast iron roof. He built this theatre drawing inspiration from the Greek temples of Pompeii.

Many artists of the period worked on decorating this splendid building. Some of them included G. Enea, G. Lentini, E. Cavallaro, S. Gregorietti, M.Rutelli and B. Civiletti. M.Rutelli and B. Civiletti designed and executed the Quadriga and Equestrian statues, which are found at the triumphal arch at the entrance.

In 1910 Restivo founded the Modern Art Gallery. It was decided to house the exhibits in the first floor of the Teatro Politeama. There are two staircases one from Via Filippo Turati and the other from Via Emerico Amari which lead to the lead to the Pompeiian Halls. There are other halls as well and the entire area is about two thousand square feet.

The Restivo gallery has fulfilled a long desired need of various artists who exhibited sketches and easel paintings rather than frescoes as their favourite medium. It also showcased the work of various landscape painters of Palermo.

There are so many famous paintings by the renowned nineteenth century artists that this gallery is well worth a visit. The sculptures of the early nineteenth century are on display in the inner gardens of the Teatro Politeama. The work of the Sicilian neo classicist Valerio Villarreal is of special importance. The gallery keeps on updating its collection through auctions and donations from heirs of artists and philanthropists.