MAFFIA IN SICILY

Palermo, a beautiful city on Sicily's northern coast, has been a center of power and beauty for centuries. Its story begins with the Arab conquest in the 9th century, which transformed it into a thriving hub of commerce and learning, renowned for the addition of amazing architecture, technological advancements and lush gardens to the city. The city's prosperity continued under the Normans in the 11th century, who embraced and integrated Arab culture, making Palermo a melting pot of diverse religious and cultural influences. The Spanish era in the 15th century further enriched Palermo with new architectural styles, adding Baroque churches and palaces to its landscape. By the time the 20th century dawned, Palermo had become a city with a deeply layered history, marked by the legacies of Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, and Spaniards. This rich past is visible in Palermo's architecture, cuisine, and traditions.

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The mafia started to grow during Italy's unification in 1860, a time called the Risorgimento. Before that, Southern Italy was ruled by kings in Naples and Palermo. When Italy became one country, it changed how Sicily was run, moving from old-fashioned feudalism to modern capitalism. This change caused confusion and uncertainty about who was in charge in Sicily, Originating in Western Sicily. The area's weak law enforcement and unstable political climate created a perfect situation for the mafia to rise to power. When actually do we call something mafia? The term "mafia" generally refers to an organized crime group that has a structured hierarchy, similar to a family, clan, or "cosca".  Members of these organizations see themselves as "men of honor," though they are commonly known as mafiosi by the public. Those men of honor offered illegal services such as protection and arbitration, as well as organizing and overseeing unlawful agreements and transactions. Each mafia family exercises control over a specific territory, which could be a town, village, or a neighborhood within a larger city. They enforce their rule by demanding "pizzo," or protection money, from businesses, which ensures the businesses can operate without harm. This practice of extortion, along with threats, kidnappings, and murders, solidifies their dominance over communities.

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The origins of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, are difficult to pinpoint due to the secretive nature of its members, who naturally do not maintain historical records of their activities. However, it's possible to identify certain historical moments that significantly influenced the trajectory of organized crime in Sicily. For example, their power was somewhat restrained by the upheavals of World War II. Italian president Mussolini, with his strong anti-Mafia stance, used his regime to suppress Maffia activities. This made Sicily's murder rate sharply decline at the time. But this changed after 1945. Following Mussolini’s downfall in 1945, the power vacuum provided fertile ground for the Mafia to grow stronger and more influential than ever before. Palermo, already battered by Allied bombings, found itself increasingly under the control of organized crime. The Mafia's resurgence post-war was further bolstered by global influences and unexpected support from various factions. These included Sicilian aristocrats, local politicians, and even the American government, which, during its anti-communist campaign, saw the Mafia as a potential ally against Mussolini's fascist regime. The U.S. government, in an attempt to counteract fascist influences, inadvertently empowered the Mafia by appointing its members to administrative positions in Sicily. This strategic misstep played a crucial role in revitalizing the Mafia, transforming it into a formidable force that would dominate Palermo for decades to come.

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A NEW PALERMO

Which made postwar period was prime time for mafia culture. The mafioso strategy for the World War destruction? Not restoring the parts that were bombed, but shaping new worlds. The destruction wrought by the bombs of Second World War opened up the prospect of a new, more modern start for the city: a “new Palermo”. One that is not tied to the past, but breathes Maffia authority and power. The war bombed city center was left alone and the course was set to built an extensive amount of new modernist buildings somewhat outside the city, leading to an accelerated "cementification" of previously green areas. This led to the demolition of numerous Art Nouveau palaces and the paving of many city parks, transforming Palermo into a dense landscape dominated by concrete structures.

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The "Sacco di Palermo," or "Sack of Palermo," was the most dramatic makeover part of the “New Palermo” plan. This dazzling building development wiped out much of the city's elegant villas and its suburban rural lands. From the 1950s to the mid-1980s, those were being replaced by characterless and poorly constructed apartment blocks. It was a time where people that didn’t had any previous experience building, could lavishly speculate, imagine and design buildings for a group of civilians that was under their power. The peak of this urban upheaval was in the 1950s. In just five years, an astonishing 4,000 building licenses were issued, with a notable number granted under dubious circumstances – like the 2,500 licenses in the names of three pensioners unconnected to the building industry. The term "sack" vividly describes how this period robbed civilians from living comforts, priceless art-nouveau buildings ancient farmlands and classic palazzos. The advantage of “the sack” was non only within its urban planning, also in supplying the materials for the building of it. Architecture was a highly profitable business which, thanks to corruption in the public works sector and construction firms directly or indirectly linked to the organized crime, have amassed millions over the years supplying concrete that wasn’t really concrete. This made way for a new generation of Mafia members, unrelated to the old families, creating a new generation of gangsters that met the building demands. They comprised a disproportionate amount of sand and water, and very little cement – to build places that where inherently dangerous. Think of streets, schools, hospitals and bridges in places prone to landslides or flooding, along cliffs, and in high-risk hydrogeological and seismic areas.

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Initially, the Palermitans greeted the new building developments with optimism. Faced with a burgeoning population and widespread poverty, the majority of Palermo's residents lived in dilapidated and destroyed buildings in the city center. The Mafia's construction of brutalist buildings appeared as beacons of a more promising future, offering modernist homes that seemed ideal for family life. In Sicilian society, values like kinship, neighborhood solidarity, friendship, and honor are deeply rooted. Families live across generations in close quarters, shared meals are the norm, and children are often raised by their nonna's. The Mafia, keenly aware of Sicily's cultural fabric, adeptly manipulated these values for their gain. The local Mafia-led government dangled the lure of significant profits and cultural advancements to the impoverished population. What could be better than growth, development, and modernity, especially when living in poverty while watching the rest of the world, and even Italy, swiftly rebuild after World War II? The dream peddled by the Mafia was to create one's own famiglia establishment in the most modern housing available at the time. This all set the stage for something which at that time seemed positive change, but now is marked Palermo's darkest era, in which exploitation played a crucial role in the Mafia's integration into various aspects of public life and governance in Palermo, further influencing the city's social and urban development.

‍ARCHITECTURE OF POWER

The sack of Palermo is perhaps the most classic example of how the Sicilian mafia has not only murdered and impoverished, but also tarnished the landscape through construction projects that, after having taken the money for their completion, were usually left unfinished. They sent a message to the institutions, making it clear that they, the bosses, had the power to change not only the laws that regulated the urban planning projects and the shape of the city, but also the local climate. At the end of the 1970s, the mafia super boss Michele Greco, nicknamed “the Pope”, and head of the Cupola, the Cosa Nostra’s governing body, fixed his ambition on Pizzo Sella, a splendid cape on the gulf of Palermo that dominates the city and the beach in Mondello. According to prosecutors, Greco gave his blessing for the construction of 314 illegal villas here. When the authorities began to investigate the scheme, it was already too late. Half had been built and the other half remained unfinished.

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The construction boom in Palermo had deeper implications than just money laundering. It was a clever move by the Mafia to win over the aristocracy owning land around the city. Through this, they transformed large agricultural areas into urban landscapes, profiting significantly. During the Cold War, the Mafia found unlikely allies in some Italian and American government circles. Their suppression of socialist and communist groups, who were pushing for land reforms in Sicily, aligned with the broader anti-communist agenda of the era. This stance indirectly boosted the Mafia's influence, intertwining their criminal activities with political and economic control in Sicily. This period shows how the Mafia evolved from a criminal organization to a powerful entity influencing politics and society.

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In the secretive world of the Mafia, their homes are not just living spaces but fortresses of power and luxury. Unlike the stark, concrete jungle they created in Palermo, Mafia bosses prefer homes that are private sanctuaries, away from the working classes. Mafia bosses spend much time at home, far from the eyes of their rivals and of the authorities. In their houses they organise meetings, forge alliances and meet with politicians, which makes their homes a place of representation. Mafiosi villas reflect the personality of the residents and the character of the clan they represent. No fake concrete and dazzling building speculations when it came to their own homes: the mafiosi’s home must reflect another important demand: comfort.

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The villas of Sicilian and Camorra bosses, for example, were designed to communicate power from an aesthetic standpoint – majestic villas that resemble those of princes or grand dukes. Stefano Bontate, a Sicilian mafia boss, lived in a series of luxurious apartments and villas in Palermo and along its provincial coast. He was gunned down in 1981 with a Kalashnikov by one of the most hardened Cosa Nostra killers, Giuseppe “Scarpuzzedda” Greco. Scarpuzzedda, who boasted of having killed almost 60 people, owned a villa nearly 40 metres high perched on a cliff on the coast of Mongerbino. The villa, now confiscated and abandoned, has a stairway leading directly into the sea.|

TIMES OF CHANGE

Palermo witnessed a pivotal shift in the early 1990s, catalyzed by the tragic assassinations of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Their deaths sparked a massive public outcry against the Mafia. Bolstered by national support and the strong reign of an anti-mafia mayor Leoluca Orlando, efforts intensified to dismantle the Mafia's grip on the city, leading to a significant military presence on Palermo's streets. This transformation was mirrored in the city's landscape. Palermo's historic center, once a symbol of neglect and decay, experienced a revival. Over the past 25 years, a significant portion of the city's historical architecture has been restored, and areas like the industrial district have found new life through creative industries. The revitalization was further recognized with two UNESCO World Heritage site designations in 2015. A lot of cultural significant buildings are open for business again offer incredibly rich program of cultural activities.

Another interesting side development of the abandoned city centers was the settlements of migrants. Many parts of the historical center of Palermo had been empty for 30 years. In the late 1980s migrants from Bangladesh moved to town, and as migrants do, moved to where it was cheapest: the abandoned center. Not long after, Africans coming from the Libyan route did the same. Migrants weren’t that sensitive for mafia dynamics and treads that were so commonplace for locals. Their arrival in the city also contributed to the revival against the mafioso. Migrants didn’t had much to lose at a city they did not know yet and were less willing to submit then the Palermitini. This defiance threatened the decades-old system of control. They stood up to the mafia’s tyranny and, unaccustomed to its abuse of power, don’t seem to acquiesce. Their very presence threatens a secret code that has for many decades caused tragedy and injustice in the city and beyond. Those emptied areas that welcomed migrants, are now three bustling outdoor markets of the city called Ballaro, Vucciria, and Capo.

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THE CITY TODAY

Are the mafioso are really gone? Defining what the mafia “is,” where it leaves off and not-mafia begins, and the location of responsibility for “it”, is still complex. Police routinely arrest Mafiosi, but they are more of the common crook variety and Palermo has many problems. It’s one of Italy's poorest cities and suffers from Italy’s greatest recession in the former century. Lots of people still live and work off the tax books, areas remain ambandoned. But this question is actually quite irrelevant to the extend in what kind of power it brought to the city. The enduring legacy of this era is Palermo's newfound sense of civic empowerment. A cultural renaissance, fueled by government support and a collective will to reject Mafia influence, has taken hold. The city now bustles with creative energy, with initiatives aimed at enhancing local quality of life. Neighborhoods once marred by decay now pulsate with creativity, adorned with vibrant graffiti, bustling open-air markets, and repurposed buildings serving as artisan workshops and cultural centers.

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The Sicilian Mafia is not gone in the cultural memory of the world, that for sure. The glamorized image of mafioso in international media through films and TV shows has become an infamous aspect of Palermo's cultural identity - for many locals a painful reminder of the city's troubled past rather than a source of pride. But Palermo's transformation has not just physical but cultural as well. By putting in effort to overcome this image, by cultural events, local initiatives, empowering artists, it gained its reputation as a culturally strong capital. The city is now recognized as a hub for artists, musicians, and designers, attracted by its artistic ambiance, culinary delights, and affordable living. Palermo has rebranded itself from the "capital of the Mafia" to the "capital of the anti-Mafia," showcasing a shift from a culture of apathy and crime to one of lawfulness and civic pride. The enduring legacy of this era is Palermo's newfound sense of civic empowerment. A cultural renaissance, fueled by government support and a collective will to reject Mafia influence, has taken hold. The city now bustles with creative energy, with initiatives aimed at enhancing local quality of life. Neighborhoods once marred by decay now pulsate with creativity, adorned with vibrant graffiti, bustling open-air markets, and repurposed buildings serving as artisan workshops and cultural centers.

Fancy to visit this city? That is a chance to join the local residents in their fight against injustice. If you’ll get the change to visit Sicily, you will be amazed by this strong sense of civic pride. The organization’s slogan — “I pay those who don’t pay” — encourages locals and tourists to choose businesses that don’t pay protection money to the Mafia. Also, make sure you’ll visit the anti-mafia museum, a testament against the painful period in the Palermitan cultural memory. It’s an initiative that is found by residents and it is something they take a big pride of. With your visit, you will empower them in shake off the mafia representation, which will make you part of their long fight against forces of power that shaped their city for centuries.

But you will also be amazed of the rich architecture of it. There’s huge decay, but structures are still there. The consequences of a city that has been suppressed for so long, is also that there is a lot of relics from the past. Its rich architectural legacy that survived is a unique mixture of architectural styles I haven’t encountered anywhere else. But you’ll also see the mafioso spaces - both the incredibly interesting villas along the coast as the legal, brutalist buildings and gaudy, now decaying, ghost villages. Also, Pizzo Sella, known as the “hill of dishonour” is a place of slowly decaying skeletons of 170 villas, some of which were confiscated by the authorities, but never razed, and which have become an open-air rubbish heap occupied by rats – a deep scar on one of the most beautiful promontories in Sicily. You will see how forces of power shape an entire landscape from all sides, creating different faces of a city.