A small candle that never goes out guides anyone walking past the church known as the Ecce Homo, named after the votive shrine depicting Christ, in the heart of Palermo’s Via Roma. The faint light illuminating Christ’s face in the little shrine feels like a reminder of an older city, when Palermo was neither crowded nor brightly lit. It once helped locals and travelers find their way, and it continues to do so today as more and more visitors fill the streets of the historic center.
At the foot of the steps leading to the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate, the shrine, originally located in the Conceria district, was moved during the major redevelopment between 1929 and 1932, when the entire neighborhood was demolished to create the new Via Roma. That is how the Ecce Homo found its place beside the staircase that rises toward Sant’Antonio Abate.
