This city has either an ugly beauty or a beautiful ugliness. Many people consider it ugly. I consider it more beautiful than ugly. I think this is because I was able to see it beyond the abandonment and negligence much seen in its old center, the ravaged buildings and deep marks of long-gone conflicts: in other words, the neglect from its rulers…
I have a certain obsession with visiting street markets. But I confess that I only do it when I travel. Perhaps because it is an efficient, fun and wonderful way to get to know the local culture better. In Italy, because of the favorable climate and soil, and because they have a very serious food culture, it is a perfect place to find the freshest and most tasty varieties of vegetables, fruit, delicacies, fish, spices and other food.
This is a very rich neighborhood, historically speaking. This is also where the beautiful Palazzo Reale is. The street market of which I speak in another article, Ballarò, is also located here, surrounded by old buildings, palaces and baroque churches. It's kind of decaying, because many buildings and constructions are so abandoned. Despite the fact that immigration is growing in this neighborhood, it is said that there is an attempt to revitalize it.