Mafia Trail
- (possibly deserving higher ratings when done as a guided tour)
A walk through parts of Palermo focusing on the theme of the Mafia, or rather the No Mafia movement. There are tours with live guides (including ones by a leading anti-Mafia association), but you can also walk to the various points of interest independently.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: see under No Mafia Memorial.
What there is to see: I had wanted to go on a “No Mafia”-themed three-hour guided walking tour offered by the association Addiopizzo (see below), but during my stay in Palermo in April 2026 there were no time slots available that I could have made. So instead I studied the itinerary and map on their website and decided to follow that route on my own terms. Of course I didn’t get any of the guide’s narrative (and wouldn’t need three hours) but at least I would see the most important places visited on the tour and be able to take photos.
Starting from the Teatro Massimo (see under Palermo) I followed the route to the first port of call: the “Muro della Legalita” or ‘Wall of Legality’. This is a wall along a car park of ca. 65m in length and 2 m high, filled entirely with murals depicting important figures in the fight against the Mafia, many of whom paid the ultimate price when they were murdered by the Mafia. It’s the work of 13 different artists from the CalaPanama association. The name of the wall is spelled out in Italian, English, German and a set of other languages along the bottom.
Here, the absence of any narrative by a guide was most felt. Some of the figures I’ve managed to find out about, such as photo journalist Letizia Battaglia, author and politician Leonardo Sciascia, anti-Mafia politician Giuseppe Impastato, journalist Pippo Fava, and the images of the famous judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone were already familiar to me (see below) – but many other faces, like those of a couple of policemen, still remain silent to me. Hearing their stories would have been most valuable.
Moving on via the Il Capo market the next major stop was at the Memorial to prosecutors and judges murdered by the Mafia. Located on Piazza della Memoria outside the Palace of Justice it consists of a green abstract monument and behind it a set of concrete steps on which the names of murdered judges and prosecutors are written in silver letters. The famous names were obviously represented here again, but several of the other names meant nothing to me. Again, here a guide would have been beneficial.
The route then led to the cathedral but I don’t know what the guide’s stories along the way and outside the cathedral would have been about. However, on the wall outside the cathedral along Via Vittorio Emanuele I spotted a plaque that is dedicated to Giovanni Orcel, a socialist political activist who was assassinated by the Mafia in October 1920. Whether this plaque would have been part of the tour I cannot say, nor what the narrative on the rest of the tour would have been.
The route continued past the No Mafia Memorial, which I also visited and have written this separate chapter about. The route ended at Piazza Pretoria (see under Palermo).
Outside the route of the walking tour I also saw more references and monuments related to the Mafia. A general monument to Mafia victims is a tall rusty-steel monument on Piazza XIII Vittime near the harbour called “Monumento ai Caduti nella Lotta contro la Mafia” (‘Monument to Those Who Fell in the Fight Against the Mafia’).
South of the nearby marina is the large wall mural depicting anti-Mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, based on a press photo showing the pair in convivial conversation. Both were assassinated by the Mafia in 1992.
All over the city you can also find the little stickers with the Addiopizzo logo in windows/doors of restaurants and shops, indicating that these businesses refuse to pay extortion money to the Mafia and are thus worthy of customer support! I ate in at least two such restaurants.
The guided walking tours will be different from my own independent “tour” and probably worth it. Note that there are many Mafia-themed tours on offer in Palermo, and not all will be of the highest quality. Relying on Addiopizzo, as a leading association in the resistance against the Mafia, is probably a good idea when choosing a tour.
Location: in various places within Palermo:
Google Maps locators:
Wall of Legality: [38.11864, 13.35629]
Piazza della Memoria with monuments: [38.1181, 13.3521]
Monumento ai Caduti nella Lotta contro la Mafia: [38.12272, 13.36475]
Falcone/Borsellino mural: [38.11965, 13.37002]
Access and costs: it’s a bit of a walk, free when done independently, for a reasonable fee when with a guide.
Details: Using the Google Maps locators above you can do this tour independently too. But if you prefer a guided tour, check out Addiopizzo – their website (addiopizzotravel[dot]it), where you can book your slot online, lists the price for the tour as 34€ per person. Given that the tour lasts three hours that seems not unreasonable.
Time required: the guided tour by Addiopizzo takes three hours – I covered the distance of their route in less time (because there was no standing around and listening to the guide’s stories). Extra time is needed to make it to the other Mafia victims monument and to the Falcone/Borsellino mural.
Combinations with other dark destinations: An almost obligatory combination in this context is of course the No Mafia Memorial with its (mostly photo) exhibition about the Mafia and the fight against it.
For more see under Palermo in general.
