Palermo is Sicily's capital (660,000 inhabitants) and the Mediterranean's most layered city — Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Aragonese, Bourbons have left legible traces in architecture, cuisine and urban culture. The Arab-Norman heritage (UNESCO 2015) is the most important of the European-Islamic Middle Ages. Street food is Italy's richest. The revival of the last 15 years has transformed the historic centre — Ballarò, the Vucciria and the Capo have been repopulated with locals, bars and authentic restaurants. Falcone-Borsellino airport (PMO): train to Palermo Centrale (1h, €6) or bus (50 min, €6).
The Palatine Chapel and Monreale
The Palatine Chapel (Palazzo dei Normanni, €12, online booking — Palermo's most visited) is the peak of 12th-century Arab-Norman art — golden mosaics, muqarnas ceiling (Islamic stalactites in painted wood), cosmatesque floors: three artistic traditions fused in a single space. The Palazzo dei Normanni (the Sicilian Parliament seat) is visitable at weekends. The Cathedral of Palermo (12th-18th century, externally free, treasury €7) has the sarcophagus of Frederick II of Swabia (1250) and the tomb of Constance of Aragon. Monreale (8km, bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza, €1.50, cathedral free, cloisters €3.50) has the world's largest medieval mosaic cycle — 6,340 sqm, 130 biblical scenes from the 12th to 13th centuries.
Ballarò, Vucciria and Street Food
The Ballarò market (Palermo's oldest, Albergheria neighbourhood, morning) has the density and energy of a North African souk. Mandatory street food: pane ca' meusa (bread roll with boiled and fried spleen and lung, €3 — the most divisive), arancina (fried rice filled with ragù or butter/ham, in Palermo it's feminine arancina, not arancino), sfincione (Palermitan thick pizza with anchovies, onion, caciocavallo and tomato), panelle (chickpea flour fritters). The Vucciria (evening, Castellammare neighbourhood) transforms into a popular aperitivo with fried fish, house wine and young Palermitans. The Mercato del Capo (Via Beati Paoli) and Borgo Vecchio (Piazza Beati Paoli) are more authentic neighbourhood markets. Seated Palermitan cuisine: pasta con le sarde (wild fennel, raisins, pine nuts, anchovies — Arab-Norman in its sweet-sour flavours).
Practical tips
The Palatine Chapel must be booked online — it is among Italy's most extraordinary things
Pane ca' meusa is Italy's most divisive bread roll — try it once and then decide
Monreale (bus 389, €1.50 from Palermo) is mandatory — the largest mosaic cycle of the Middle Ages
