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Cathedral
Cattedrale di Palermo
The cathedral of Palermo, built beginning in 1185, mixes Norman, Catalan Gothic and Neoclassical styles. It houses tombs of kings and emperors and the silver reliquary of Santa Rosália.
Sicília · Italy Capital
Palermo
In the destination Sicília.
In the photo: Cattedrale di Palermo
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
What to expect from Palermo.
Palermo is the capital of Sicily and the city of the Arab-Norman UNESCO World Heritage ensemble: the cathedral, the Palazzo dei Normanni with the Cappella Palatina, the Martorana, San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the Zisa and the Duomo di Monreale. It has the Quattro Canti, Piazza Pretoria, the Teatro Massimo, the museums of Palazzo Abatellis and Salinas, the Catacombe dei Cappuccini, the Ballarò market, the sanctuary of Santa Rosália and the beach of Mondello.
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The local experience
What to see in Palermo
Palace
Palazzo dei Normanni
Royal palace of the Normans, seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. On the first floor is the Cappella Palatina, from 1140, covered in Byzantine mosaics and with a wooden ceiling in an Arabic style.
Square
Quattro Canti
The baroque intersection of Palermo's two main streets, Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, with four curved facades decorated with fountains, statues of kings and patron saints.
Square
Piazza Pretoria
Square next to the Quattro Canti featuring the Fontana Pretoria, a Renaissance marble fountain with dozens of statues, made in Florence in the 16th century and reassembled in Palermo.
See 11 more places in Palermo
Church
Chiesa di Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio
The Martorana, a church from 1143 with Byzantine gold-background mosaics, including Rogério II crowned by Christ. Beside it, the small San Cataldo, with red domes.
Architecture
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele, opened in 1897, is the largest opera house in Italy. Guided tours visit the auditorium, the boxes and the Pompeian hall.
Market
Mercato di Ballarò
The oldest street market in Palermo, in the Albergheria district, with stalls selling fish, fruit and vegetables and Sicilian street food such as panelle and arancine.
Cathedral
Duomo di Monreale
The Norman cathedral of Monreale, 8 km from Palermo, begun in 1174 by Guilherme II, has about 6,400 m² of gold mosaics and a cloister with 228 double columns.
Historical site
Catacombe dei Cappuccini
Underground galleries of the Capuchin convent where, from the late 16th century to the early 20th century, thousands of dressed bodies were preserved and displayed.
Church
Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti
12th-century Norman church, with five red domes of Arabic inspiration and a small cloister with a garden of orange trees and Mediterranean plants.
Museum
Palazzo Abatellis
15th‑century Catalan‑Gothic palace that houses the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, including the Triumph of Death fresco and Antonello da Messina's Virgin Annunciate.
Museum
Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonino Salinas
One of Italy's main archaeological museums, in the former convent of the Olivella, with the metopes from the temples of Selinunte and Punic, Greek and Roman pieces from Sicily.
Church
Santuario di Santa Rosalia
Sanctuary in a grotto on Monte Pellegrino, 600 meters above Palermo, where Saint Rosalia lived, patron saint of the city. The road up there has views over the gulf.
Beach
Mondello
Palermo's beach, in a gulf between Monte Pellegrino and Monte Gallo, with pale sand, clear water and the old liberty‑style bathing establishment built over the sea.
Palace
La Zisa
Summer palace of the Norman kings, begun by Guilherme I around 1165, with the muqarnas fountain room. It houses a museum of Islamic art.