The crumbling wall of the Oratorio of the Most Holy Rosary in Santa Cita, known locally in Palermo as just "Santa Cita" is covered with obscene graffiti. Inside is one of the baroque masterpieces of stucco moulding, by Palermitano sculptor Giacomo Serpotta, an all-white extravaganza recently cleaned and restored. But on the outside were phallic symbols, the words "Fuck You" in English, and "Skinheads" along with other typical ugly tags. A couple were about to get married in the Oratorio and did not want their picture taken on the staircase with these obscene graffiti behind them. The priest tried contacting the Ministry of Cultural Heritage but he couldn't get through to them. Time was a-wasting. So he covered the obscene graffiti with a yellow ochre paint. People in Palermo, especially on the web, were furious. A Facebook group I follow called I Monumenti Abbandonati di Palermo ( The Abandoned Monuments of Palermo) was up in arms over the yellow paint. But they had never complained about the erect penises and scrota and the curse words previously decorating the entrance, and the priest pointed that out in an article in La Repubblica.
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