Sicily's rich history is well known and can be seen, for example, in its Greek temples or in its Arab-Norman churches. But Sicilian history can not only be found in its architecture.
In Palermo, even the trees can be monuments and witnesses of memory. Today we want to talk about two very special trees for the city, both of the same species: Ficus macrophylla, also called Ficus magnoloides, an evergreen tree of the Moraceae's family.
The first by antiquity is the Ficus of piazza Marina, in the Kalsa district, 160 years old, measuring 30 meters and with a circumference of more than 20. It is the largest exotic tree in Europe and was declared a monumental tree.
It is so big that its aerial roots exceed the park's fence, but to see it closer, you can enter the Garibaldi Garden, which was designed by the architect Filippo Basile in the mid-nineteenth century.
The second Ficus is the one located in via Emanuele Notarbartolo in front of the portal of the former home of Judge Giovanni Falcone. After his assassination on May 23rd, 1992, known as the Capaci massacre, hundreds of Palermitans spontaneously came to his house and began to leave messages, objects, letters under the tree, as a sign of mourning and solidarity.
Named "Falcone's tree" since then, today, more than 30 years after his murder, the Ficus continues to be filled with messages left by people over the years and has become a symbol of resistance against the Mafia, and a place of memory.