Palermo is the capital of Sicily and one of the most historically layered cities in the Mediterranean — a place that has been Phoenician, Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Swabian, Spanish and Italian in succession, leaving an extraordinary palimpsest of cultures visible in its street food, architecture and dialect. The Arab-Norman period (1072–1194) produced the most distinctive art in the city: the Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina, 1132–1143) with its golden Byzantine mosaics covering every surface combined with Islamic stalactite (muqarnas) ceilings in a single room that defies categorisation; the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti with its distinctive red domes in an Arabic style; and the Martorana (Piazza Bellini) with a golden mosaic of King Roger II in Byzantine imperial robes receiving his crown directly from Christ — a political iconography so audacious it was essentially blasphemous. Palermo's street food culture is among the most extraordinary in Italy: the Ballarò market (a North African souk transplanted to Sicily) sells stigghiola (roasted offal on a stick), panelle (chickpea fritters), arancine (fried rice balls — the Palermitan form has ragù, peas and mozzarella), sfincione (thick Sicilian pizza with anchovies and onions) and pane con la milza (spleen sandwich in lard, the most confronting of all Palermitan street foods). The city was badly bombed in WWII and has struggled with a complicated relationship with the Mafia, but its cultural renaissance since the 1980s — culminating in UNESCO recognition of the Arab-Norman architecture in 2015 — has made it one of the most exciting cities in Southern Italy.
The 1132 chapel in the Norman Palace is the masterpiece of Arab-Norman synthesis — Byzantine gold mosaics (by Greek craftsmen) cover the apse and nave while Islamic muqarnas stalactite ceilings (by Muslim artisans) cover the nave roof and the Palatine itself; the combined effect is unique in the world, listed UNESCO 2015.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe oldest and largest street market in Palermo (active since Arab rule, 9th century) has the most intense atmosphere in Sicily — fishmongers selling swordfish heads, vendors shouting the prices of octopus, tuna and sea urchin, stands with chickpea panelle frying in oil and the calls (abbanniate) of the market sellers that have been declared UNESCO Intangible Heritage.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideStigghiola (intestines grilled on skewers with onion and parsley), pane con la milza (spleen sandwich in lard from Nino's cart at the Ballarò corner), arancine (golden fried rice balls filled with ragù) and panelle (chickpea fritters in sesame bread) — the full Palermitan street food education in two hours.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Quattro Canti (1608) — the Baroque octagonal piazza where the four ancient city quarters meet — and the Fontana Pretoria (1554, the "Fountain of Shame" with its nude figures that shocked 16th-century Sicilians) are the two set pieces of central Palermo Baroque, with the Piazza Bellini and its four churches behind.
Pasta con le sarde (pasta with fresh sardines, fennel, pine nuts and raisins — the most distinctive Sicilian pasta, a combination of Arab-influenced sweet-savoury cooking) followed by cassata siciliana (ricotta, candied citrus and marzipan sponge cake) in one of the Vucciria quarter's traditional osterie.
The Martorana (1143) has the mosaic of King Roger II receiving his crown from Christ — unique royal iconography with the king in Byzantine imperial dress — and the Christ Pantocrator mosaic in the dome; beside it, San Cataldo (1154) has three Arab red domes and an interior of bare stone with no mosaics, an atmosphere of austere Islamic-Norman gravity.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 1136 church with its five distinctive red domes was built on the site of a mosque (the interior still has the mosque's outline visible) — the Arab-Norman red dome style is unique to Palermo and this church is the most photogenic expression of it; the adjacent 12th-century cloister with its pointed arches and garden of orange trees.
8 km from Palermo, Monreale Cathedral (1174–1182) has the largest Norman mosaic cycle in existence — 6,340 m² of gold mosaics covering the entire interior, depicting the Old and New Testaments in 42 panels with the 20 m Christ Pantocrator in the apse; the Benedictine cloister with 228 double columns (each uniquely carved) surrounds a garden fountain.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Vucciria (one of the five historic markets of Palermo, now more bar than market at night) becomes an open-air bar from 19:00 — plastic tables between market stalls, local arancine and fried street food, Aperol and Campari spritz, and the most lively social scene in Palermo.
The Capuchin monastery catacombs hold 8,000 naturally mummified bodies dressed in period clothing (1599–1920) — the most macabre and fascinating attraction in Sicily; the Rosalia Lombardo gallery (a 2-year-old child mummified in 1920 by the last preserved secret formula, so well preserved she appears asleep) is the most visited.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 1165 Zisa Palace (from Arabic "al-Aziz," the magnificent) is the best-preserved Norman-Arab royal palace outside the Palatine Chapel — the muqarnas fountain room, the mosaic panels with peacocks and archers, and the geometric garden layout preserve the Islamic palatine culture of the Norman court.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Teatro Massimo (1897) is the largest opera house in Italy and third-largest in Europe — the neoclassical temple-like facade has featured in The Godfather Part III (1990); tours of the theatre available; a Palermo evening performance of opera or ballet is among the finest cultural experiences in Southern Italy.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Sicilian granita (semi-frozen flavoured ice, notably different from the mainland Italian version — coarser, more intensely flavoured, served with a brioche bun for dipping) in almond, pistachio or mulberry flavours at one of the Palermo pasticcerie is the most distinctly Sicilian sweet experience and the definitive Palermo farewell.