Must see attractions in Palermo

  • Top Choice
    Cappella Palatina

    Designed by Roger II in 1130, this extraordinary chapel is Palermo's top tourist attraction. Located on the middle level of Palazzo dei Normanni's three…

  • Top Choice
    Palazzo dei Normanni

    Home to Sicily's regional parliament, this venerable palace dates back to the 9th century. However, it owes its current look (and name) to a major Norman…

  • Top Choice
    Cattedrale di Palermo

    A feast of geometric patterns, ziggurat crenellations, maiolica cupolas and blind arches, Palermo's cathedral has suffered aesthetically from multiple…

  • Top Choice
    Galleria Regionale della Sicilia

    Housed in the stately 15th-century Palazzo Abatellis, this art museum – widely regarded as Palermo's best – showcases works by Sicilian artists dating…

  • Top Choice
    Teatro Massimo

    Taking over 20 years to complete, Palermo's neoclassical opera house is the largest in Italy and the second-largest in Europe. The closing scene of The…

  • Top Choice
    Mercato di Ballarò

    Snaking for several city blocks southeast of Palazzo dei Normanni is Palermo's busiest street market, which throbs with activity well into the early…

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    Top Choice
    Palazzina Cinese & Parco della Favorita

    Once a retreat for King Ferdinand IV and his wife Maria Carolina, this pagoda-inspired pavilion exemplifies the popularity of 'Oriental exotica' in 18th…

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    Top Choice
    Pinacoteca Villa Zito

    Elegant 18th-century Villa Zito houses a sharply curated collection of mainly Sicilian-themed art spanning the 17th to 20th centuries. You'll find a…

  • La Martorana

    On the southern side of Piazza Bellini, this luminously beautiful 12th-century church was endowed by King Roger's Syrian emir, George of Antioch, and was…

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    Museo dell'Inquisizione

    Housed in the lower floors and basements of 14th-century Palazzo Chiaromonte Steri, this fascinating museum explores the legacy of the Inquisition in…

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    Oratorio di Santa Cita

    This 17th-century chapel showcases the breathtaking stuccowork of Giacomo Serpotta, who famously introduced rococo to Sicilian churches. Note the…

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    Oratorio di San Lorenzo

    The late-16th-century Oratory of St Lawrence features glorious stuccowork by master rococo sculptor Giacomo Serpotta. Capturing scenes from the lives of…

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    Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Teatini

    In the southwestern corner of the Quattro Canti is this 17th-century church, topped by an elegant cupola designed by Giuseppe Mariani and flanked by the…

  • Fontana Pretoria

    Fringed by imposing churches and buildings, Piazza Pretoria is dominated by the over-the-top Fontana Pretoria, one of Palermo's major landmarks. The…

  • Orto Botanico

    Laid out by Léon Dufourny and Venanzio Marvuglia, this raffish, subtropical paradise shelters massive fig trees, tall palms and dazzling hibiscus bushes,…

  • Catacombe dei Cappuccini

    These catacombs house the mummified bodies and skeletons of some 8000 Palermitans who died between the 17th and 19th centuries. Earthly power, gender,…

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    Quattro Canti

    Officially titled Piazza Vigliena, the elegant intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda is better known as the Quattro Canti. Marking the…

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    Galleria d'Arte Moderna

    This lovely, wheelchair-accessible museum is housed in a 15th-century palazzo, which metamorphosed into a convent in the 17th century. Divided over three…