Palermo and its Sea - Bike tour

Sightseeing  :  Italy  :  Sicily  :  Palermo  :  Bike & Mountain Bike Tours

A 4 hours and almost 10 kilometers bike tour along the Palermo coastline to discover places, landscapes and buildings which characterize its history and its several transformations.The tour tells the story of the love and hate relationship between the city and its sea: from the tonnare (tuna traps) of the XIII and XIV century, passing through the old fishing villages and large bathing facilities of the early twentieth century. The tour will start from Piazza Marina whose stories tell of the origin and the name of the city, 'panormos', 'all port' and its transformations over the centuries. Porta Felice and the Cattive Walls will illustrate the history of the promenade and going up to St. Erasmus, home of the new Urban Ecomuseum 'Mare Memoria Viva', it will focus on the violent transformation of this part of the coast.

The journey back to the south-east, will tell the story of the Florio family through the places of their entrepreneurial and cultural adventure in Palermo passing the Bourbon Arsenal, the Shipyards and the seaside villages. In these places the productive role of the villages and their heritage suspended between the epic liberty splendor and the production of tuna will be recalled. The tour will end in Mondello, where villas and the white beach will tell us the dream of the '20s: founding a city-garden for leisure and bathing.