On Thursday 13 June 2024 at 10.00 am, at the Coronation Chapel adjacent to and an integral part of the Giuseppe Pitrè Ethnographic Museum of Palermo, the Delegation of Western Sicily of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George delivered the stage sets for “The Royal Palace in triumph,” set up on the occasion of the ceremonies naming various places in memory of Sovereigns of Sicily – Piazza Carlo III di Borbone, Viale Ferdinandeo and Regina Maria Carolina gardens. These ceremonies took place on Monday 27 September 2021, in the presence of the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, HRH Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria and members of the Royal Family of the Two Sicilies.
The Coronation Chapel
The Coronation chapel – which is located to the left of the entrance to the Giuseppe Pitrè Ethnographic Museum of Palermo and in the immediate vicinity of the Chinese Palace – was built from 1803 to 1804. In the perimeter square it has a circular plan with an annular band containing eight columns with niches and passages. On the upper floor there is a gallery where the royal family attended Mass. Many scholars tend to attribute it to Alessandro Emanuele Marvuglia, rather than to his father Venanzio.
Currently, the Coronation Chapel hosts an exhibition of iconography of Saint Rosalie, Patroness of Palermo, a city which this year marks the 400th anniversary of the end of the plague.
The dedication ceremony of the square, the avenue and the gardens
of the Chinese Building in Palermo to the memory of the Sovereigns of Sicily – September 27, 2021
HRH Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta, Head of the Royal House of Two Sicilies, and Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, on the morning of Monday 27 September 2021, visited various venues associated with the Bourbons to pay homage to the Sovereigns of Sicily and restore awareness of them.
HRH Prince Pedro is the heir of King Charles III of Bourbon and Elisabetta Farnese, a direct descendant of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and Ferdinand III, King of Sicily), who fell in love with the lush nature at the foot of Monte Pellegrino and settled there with Queen Maria Carolina.
The naming ceremony of these locations in memory of the Sovereigns of Sicily – Piazza Carlo III di Borbone, Viale Ferdinandeo and Regina Maria Carolina Gardens – took place at 10.00 am at the monumental complex of the Palazzina Cinese (Chinese Palace). At the gate of the residence where King Ferdinand lived in the decade in which, during the Napoleonic occupation, he moved to Palermo with Queen Maria Carolina, the Mayor of Palermo and the Vice President of the Sicilian Region welcomed T.R.H. Prince Pedro and his spouse Princess Sofia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke and Duchess of Calabria, along with their children Prince Juan, Prince Pablo and Prince Pedro, as well as their eldest son Prince Jaime and his spouse Princess Charlotte, Duke and Duchess of Noto.
A representation of the Delegation of Western Sicily of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George was present, led by the Delegate Nob. Prof. Salvatore Bordonali, Knight Grand Cross of Justice. Also present were Dr. Maria Francesca Martinez Tagliavia, Director of the Museums and Exhibition Spaces Office of the Municipality of Palermo and Director of the Empedocle Restivo Modern Art Gallery, on which the Giuseppe Pitrè Ethnographic Museum also depends; and Giorgio Filippone, President of the “Settimana delle Culture” Association, which since 2013 has organized annually the Settimana delle Culture Festival, the flagship of artistic communication articulated in the various cultural expressions of the City of Palermo.
During this public event, which took place inside the park on the slopes of Monte Pellegrino, the plaques were unveiled by the Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies together with the local authorities who attended.
The installation of the stage set “The Royal Palace in triumph”
After the unveiling of the plaques, we proceeded with the inauguration of the installation the stage set The Royal Palace in triumph, set up under the High Patronage of the Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. It was designed by architect Giacomo Fanale, with the support of the Culture Week, and was created by Antonio Bellaville’s “Bellaville solution”, assisted by the contribution of other private sponsors.
The Royal Palace in triumph was a temporary stage set, taken from a design of the time, re-proposing the procession – which winds from Porta Felice along the entire Strada Colonna, today’s Foro Umberto I, a road axis created by the Viceroy Marco Antonio Colonna, Duke of Tagliacozzo, in the second half of the 15th century – for the entrance to the Royal Palace of Palermo “in triumph for the acclamation and coronation of the sacred royal majesty of Charles the Infante of Spain, (…) ordered by the most excellent Senate of Palermo (…) given in the light of the most excellent Senate (…) and described by Don Pietro La Placa, chancellor of the city.”
The delivery of the stage sets
on June 13, 2024
The representation of the Constantinian Order’s Delegation of Western Sicily, which attended the delivery of the stage equipment on Thursday 13 June 2024, was led by the Delegate, Nob. Prof. Salvatore Bordonali, Knight Grand Cross of Justice, along with the Secretary General, Dr. Salvatore Glorioso, Knight of Jure Sanguinis, and some Knights from the Provinces of Palermo and Agrigento.
Also present was the architect Giacomo Fanale, Knight of Merit, designer of the scenography and author of conferences focused on the history of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George who on this occasion recalled that the creation of the stage sets had been possible thanks to the munificence of Francesco Ginestra, Knight of Jure Sanguinis and Antonio Bellaville, Knight of Merit, who at the time were among the private sponsors of the event. This all took place in the presence of the Their Royal Highnesses, who were present at the delivery of the stage sets.
