Sighseeing
Being situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the northwestern coast of Sicily, Palermo is the largest city and chef port of the region. It is spread at about one square mile and has been a significant trading and cultural centre for many years behind. Since the period of Phoenician colonisation it has steadily expanded on successive waves of Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Swabians, Normans, and Spaniards, until the more recent town-planning initiatives from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.As a result, nowadays the town treasures over 500 places of interest of a really great importance and very different, (even opposite) cultural belonging. Therefore Palermo is considered to be one of the most attractive landmarks not only in Italy, but in Europe at all. It manages to preserve and unite various monuments, in original way. Outstanding examples are: The Cathedral (1169-85), the Palatine Chapel (1140), the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (1132), the famous University of Palermo, founded in 1777, and many, many others...
Via Maqueda
The historic city is traditionally divided into four quarters, which has its centre in the octagonal Piazza Vigliena (better known as Quattro Canti di Citta). This square was laid out in the 17th century- the same time when Via Maqueda Street was constructed- bisecting the old thoroughfare known as the Cassaro, now Corso Vittorio Emanuele.It wasn't done by chance- the four rounded corners of the square, were divided perfectly into three orders, presenting respectively: the four seasons; the city's four Patron Saints; and the four kings of Spain. Nowadays they are decorated by fountains; statues, niches, and coats of arms, being really a picturesque sight by itself.
Piazza Pretoria, and Pretoria Fountain
Pretoria Fountain (1555) was worked out by Francesco Camilliani and Michelangelo Naccherino,(whom the senate of Palermo purchased from a noble Florentine), during the heyday of the Spanish Inquisition. This splendid creature features 16 statues of nude nymphs, humans, mermaids and satyrs, and it is really a great surprise, how such type of art was permitted at those dark times of human's history... Now it is surrounded by plenty of other sights of interest such as: the 15th-century Palazzo di Citta or Palazzo delle Aquile (the Town Hall), the Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Palazzo Guggino-Chiaramonte Bordonaro (18th century), and Palazzo Gastone (late 18th century).
Corso Vittorio Emanuele
Corso Vittorio Emanuele has always been the most important street of the city, that bisects Via Maqueda and links Palazzo Reale to the sea... In fact, it is one and the same as the ancient Cassaro thoroughfare, (a term, derived from the Arabic word Qasr, meaning castle or fortress), on which Arabs built the original Palace of his Emirs, becoming later, successively known as the Norman Palace and the Royal Palace. In the Phoenician and Roman periods, several smaller streets branched off from it, leading to the upper part of the city, where the medieval quarters began to develop.
Porta Felice
Porta Felice was constructed in order to embellish the seaside promenade. Its structure was started in 1580 and was continued in 1602 by Mariano Smiriglio. The process of finishing is dating back to the 1642 when Pietro Novelli and Vincenzo Tedeschi worked it out. It was named after the Viceroy's wife, Donna Felice Orsini.
Cathedral
Dedicated to the Most Holy Mary of the Assumption, the Cathedral has undergone some drastic transformations during the course of the centuries. It was built by the Normans, right in the spot of a sanctuary, dating to the earliest Christian times, transformed later into a Christian Basilica and then into an Arab mosque. What catches one's eye immediately is its spectacular imposing fade, separated from the Cassaro by a flat open space.
Monreale Duomo
This jewel of Norman architecture is known for its magnificent series of mosaics embellishing the whole interior.
