Palermo, Viale Strasburgo

The Viale Strasburgo is one of the newer avenues in Palermo. This whole area, once the famed Conca D'Oro because its orange groves with their golden fruit, was converted into high rise apartments in the sixties due to collusion between the mafia and the city administration. There was a concomitant neglect of the architecturally fabulous old areas of this magnificent ancient city once the learning center of Europe because of it's Arab, Jewish and Greek populations and roots. Fortunately this trend has been reversed as the old areas are now valued and re appreciated but also gentrified. These photos were taken with my trusty companion the Olympus E PL-2 from the balcony of my aunt and uncle's extremely large condominium.