Mercato di Ballarò

The story

Ballarò is the oldest market in Palermo, in the Albergheria quarter, and its origins go back to Arab rule, when produce from the countryside around the city was traded here. The name is of uncertain origin; the most repeated explanation links it to a village near Monreale from which the farmers came.

It spreads around Piazza del Carmine, under the majolica dome of the church of the same name, and winds through the streets of the quarter between stalls of fruit, fish, meat and spices.

The “abbanniate”, the cries with which vendors call in customers, are a recognised tradition and still very much alive.

Why it is worth it

You hear Ballarò before you see it: the voices, the calls, the smell of fish and oranges. Then you are among coloured awnings, heaps of vegetables, fry shops turning out panelle and crocché. Stop to eat standing up, watch the neighbourhood doing its shopping, and look up now and then: there are churches and palaces hidden behind the stalls.