Viale della Libertà, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, August 2018 (photo)

Viale della Libertà is one of the main roads in Palermo. At the end of the nineteenth century It developed thanks to the National Exposition whose temporary seat was placed right at the beginning of the avenue. At the end of the exhibition, the exhibition structure was demolished and the area began to be subdivided with villas built by the best architects of the time. Among these are the villas Genuardi, Raineri, Salandra and Scandurra by Giovan Battista and Francesco Paolo Palazzotto, and the Deliella villa by Ernesto Basile, all destroyed and, still existing, a building inhabited by the Florio family, the Alliata Cardillo building, the Fatta della Fratta building , and others. It is currently one of the most prestigious city streets. On the axis there is the villa Zito, seat of the Pinacoteca of the Sicily Foundation. Currently the road is visually divided into two sections, the first, oldest is the one closest to the historic center, is characterized by a triple lane, a central one intended only for the transit of vehicles, and two smaller lateral ones, separated from the central lane from wide sidewalks, this area begins where Via Ruggero Settimo ends and ends at Piazza Croci and was defined by Richard Wagner the Champs-Élysées of Sicily. The second section begins near the English Garden, the lateral carriageways are occupied by the garden and subsequently by the buildings. This is the most modern section and much longer than the initial section.