In the city of Palermo, in the island of Sicily, Italy

 “All of Sicily is a dimension of the imagination.” ― Leonardo Sciascia

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(in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.) Palermo is an urban melting pot characterized by history and culture so diverse that it often feels conflicted. Discover an intriguing range of architectural styles, from Arabian domes to baroque buildings, and enjoy delicious cuisine that spans a variety of origins. Be sure to visit the Palace of the Normans, the Palatine Chapel, and the church of St. John of the Hermits.

+ Having been the crossroads of civilisations for millennia, Palermo delivers a heady, heavily spiced mix of Byzantine mosaics, Arabesque domes, and frescoed cupolas. The city of Palermo, capital of the island region of Sicily in Italy lies on Sicily’s northwestern coast at the head of the Bay of Palermo, facing east. Inland the city is enclosed by a fertile plain known as the Conca d’Oro (Golden Shell), which is planted with citrus groves. Mount Pellegrino rises to a height of 1,988 feet (606 meters) north of the city. Founded by Phoenician traders in the 8th century BCE, it later became a Carthaginian settlement until its capture by the Romans in 254 BCE. The city decayed under Roman rule but prospered after 535 CE when the Byzantine general Belisarius recovered it from the Ostrogoths. The Arabs conquered Palermo in 831, and it flourished as a center of rich trade with North Africa. Palermo was thus quite prosperous when it fell to the Norman adventurers Roger I and Robert Guiscard in 1072. The ensuing era of Norman rule (1072–1194) was Palermo’s golden age, particularly after the founding of the Norman kingdom of Sicily in 1130 by Roger II. Palermo became the capital of this kingdom, in which Greeks, Arabs, Jews, and Normans worked together with singular harmony to create a culture of remarkable vitality. Norman rule in Sicily was replaced in 1194 by that of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty. The Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II shifted the center of imperial politics to southern Italy and Sicily, and the cultural brilliance of his court at Palermo was renowned throughout western Europe. The city was conquered by the French Charles of Anjou in 1266, but Angevin oppression was ended in 1282 by a popular uprising called the Sicilian Vespers. Palermo then came under Aragonese rule. After 1412 the crown of Sicily was united with that of Aragon, and later with that of Spain. Palermo declined during this period of Spanish rule. In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi seized Palermo, which the following year joined the United Kingdom of Italy. The city was severely bombed in July 1943, when it was taken by Allied troops. Parts of old Palermo, where buildings were destroyed during WWarII, remained unrestored into the 1990s. Palermo now functions as Sicily’s mainport and center of government. The port operates both merchant and passenger lines to Tunisia and Naples and handles most of the island’s foreign trade.