Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the lengthy avenue that divides Palermo in two and ends at a big stone gate, Porta Felice. Crossing it one can find the Foro Italico with its sea views.

But when as a substitute of crossing it you have a look at the steps proper subsequent to Porta Felice you’ll be able to climb them, undergo an iron gate and stroll alongside what had been initially town partitions.

You’ll be strolling on the Mure delle Cattive. If you already know any Italian, you will know that “cattive” is the female plural of “cattiva” which suggests dangerous. So sure, you might be on the “wall of dangerous ladies”.

Do not assume this can be a typo, the signal hanging over the gate you’ve got walked via says it fairly clearly. So, if it isn’t a mistake, you are in all probability now questioning who these ladies are and what might need carried out to have earned that label.

Thieves, murderers, swindlers?

Not one of the above.

These ladies had been simply prisoners. Not of their household, not of a king, not of a jailer. They had been prisoners of their ache, that’s, they had been widows.

Every thing is because of a misunderstanding between the phrase captiva (captive, prisoner) and the phrase cattiva (dangerous).

In 1823 this promenade with a paved terrace was constructed on the partitions to have the ability to take a stroll overlooking the ocean to take pleasure in a cooler breeze. This may have allowed these widows, who in line with custom ought to be wearing black and mourning their loss to infinity, to stroll extra discreetly.

One other model of the story tells that what they actually did was to let themselves be seen to indicate that they had been accessible…

Right now, after some years closed, you’ll not see widows strolling round, however at the least you’ll be able to sit in the one bar to have a snack within the shade of the timber.