Mount Pellegrino, Palermo

I didn't make it to Mt. Pelligrino, but I was given these directions to get there. Apparently the tomb of Santa Rosalia is there. Pick up bus #812 in Piazza Storza. I think the same bus for Mondello will take you to Mt. Pelligrino, but you can ask any bus driver in the Piazza which us to take.

Mount Pellegrino & Saint Rosalie's Shrine
Mount Pellegrino, the 'Pilgrims' Mountain,' offers panoramic views of Palermo and the Sea but is most famous for the Sanctuary of Saint Rosalie, located near the summit along winding roads that traverse woods of typically Mediterranean stone pines. Venerated for centuries, this medieval saint is thought to have been of Norman ancestry, though in fact there exists little evidence to support that idea. She sought a hermit's life on Mount Pellegrino and many miracles were attributed to her. The feast of Saint Rosalie (Santa Rosalia), heavenly patroness of Palermo, is celebrated 13-15 July.

Remember Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke? 'I don't care if the roads get scary, as long I've got my plastic Mary, sitting on the dashboard of my car.' Well, if you are into plastic, self-adhesive, glow-in-the-dark images of little known saints, take a look at the kitsch on sale in the shops outside Santa Rosalia's cave on Monte Pellegrino overlooking Palermo. Rosalia was the daughter of a Norman noble in 12th-century Sicily. Deciding that life in the fast lane was not for her, she turned her back on the courtly life and retired to a cave on the mountain. In 1624, when Palermo was devastated by plague, she appeared in a vision to a hunter on the mountain and led him to the cave where he found her bones. They were carried in triumph to the city, where the plague vanished in three days. La Santuzza - the little saint - was proclaimed patron saint of Palermo.