Every name given to Piazza Quattro Canti (square of the four façades) tells one more secret about its history.
Originally, it was named Piazza Villena to pay homage to the viceroy, Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco, marquis of Villena and duke of Escalona. The piazza was also named The Octagon or the Theater of Sun, because the sunlight always touches at least one of the palaces that form an octagon with the streets separating them.
For the people of Palermo, it is the Quattro Canti square, because the four façades of the almost identical buildings outline the piazza: the palaces have three floors, each embellished with an alternation of statues, fountains on their bottom floor, and emblems of the King and Senate at their top.
Read more
