Busto Garibaldi - Palermo

This sculpture by Garibaldi is located in the garden named after him. The garden, also called Villa Garibaldi, was created from 1863 , in the middle of Piazza Marina. There are also sculptures by Rosolino Pilo, Giovanni Corrao, Raffaele De Benedetto, Luigi Tukory and Nicola Bălcescu.

The Siege of Palermo took place between May 27 and 30, 1860 during the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as part of the Italian Wars of Unification.

With about 750 Red Shirts able to fight, along with some 3,000 picciotti (Sicilian volunteer guerrillas), Garibaldi attacked the Sicilian capital of Palermo on May 27. This was occupied by a garrison of 18,000 to 22,000 soldiers of the Bourbon army under the incompetent command of General Ferdinando Lanza. A significant portion of Palermo's 180,000 residents rallied behind Garibaldi , including around 2,000 prisoners released from local prisons.

Nevertheless, Lanza surrendered the city on May 30.

Of the many exotic plants within the garden, the ficus Magnoloides is certainly the main attraction .

Willem Vandenameele