Things To Do in Palermo

You should give Palermo at least 3 days, and even then you will have grasped only some of its highlights. Most of everything you want to see is within walking distance of the Quattro Canti, where Via Maqueda meets Via Vittorio Emanuele. If you have only a day for the artistic monuments of Sicily's capital, here's how the top-five sights rank on a very short A-list:

1. Palazzo dei Normanni/Cappella Palatina
2. San Giovanni degli Eremiti
3. Museo Archeologico Regionale
4. Catacombe dei Cappuccini
5. Galleria Regionale della Sicilia

The Church That Never Was

One of the most evocative moments you can experience in Palermo is to stand in the church ruins of Santa Maria dello Spasimo on a dying summer day, watching the remains of this late Gothic building catch fire with the rays of the setting sun. This sight evokes the spirit of Raphael, who came here to paint his famous portrait of the anguish of the Madonna before the cross. You'll have to go to the Prado in Madrid to see the actual masterpiece, but the inspiration for it is right here in La Kalsa.

Getting Air in Confined Quarters

In the 1800s, it wasn't proper for a woman, especially if she was widowed, to go for a breath of fresh air along the Foro Umberto, as people might "talk." The solution? Right below Palazzo Butera, a promenade in confined quarters, the Mura Delle Cattive (the Wall of the Captives), was the area designated for these "outcasts," where they could stroll in peace and not attract accusing looks.

See Palermo The Dolce Vita Way

The Fountain of Shame

Adjoining Chiesa della Martorana in Piazza Pretoria, naked nymphs, gods, and goddesses romp over the 16th-century Fontana Pretoria, created by Florentine sculptor Francesco Camilliani for the garden of a Tuscan villa; it was sold to Palermo as a centerpiece of the city’s new waterworks. Palermitans call the nude-encrusted fountain the “Fountain of Shame”; nuns from a nearby convent went so far as to lop the noses off the naked males (you can still see some clumsy reattachments)—the sisters could not bring themselves to touch the members that really offended them.

The oratories of Giacomo Serpotta

Some of Palermo’s most delightful places of worship are oratories, private chapels funded by societies and guilds and usually connected to a larger church. Giacomo Serpotta, a native master of sculpting in stucco, decorated several oratorios in the early 18th century. Hours vary, but most are open Monday through Saturday 9am to 6pm. Admission to one oratory usually includes admission to a second one.

Serpotta was a member of the Society of the Holy Rosary, and he decorated the society’s Oratorio del Rosario di San Domenico (Via dei Bambinai; tel. 091/332-779; 6€) with delightfully expressive putti (cherubs), who are locked forever in a playground of happy antics. His 3-D reliefs depict everything from the Allegories of the Virtues to the Apocalypse of St. John to a writhing “Devil Falling from Heaven.” Anthony van Dyck, the Dutch master who spent time in Palermo in the 1620s, did the “Madonna of the Rosary” over the high altar.

Serpotta also worked between 1698 and 1710 on the Oratorio di San Lorenzo (Via dell’Immacolatella; tel. 091/332-779; 3€), creating panels relating the lives of St. Francis and St. Lawrence to create what critics have admiringly called “a cave of white coral.” Some of the most expressive of the stuccoes depict the martyrdom of Lawrence, who was roasted to death and nonchalantly informed his tormentors, “I’m well done. Turn me over.” Caravaggio’s last large painting, a Nativity, once hung over the altar, but it was stolen in 1969 and never recovered.

The all-white Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Cita (Via Valverde 3; tel. 091/332-779; 6€) houses Serpotta's crowning achievement: a detailed relief of the 1571 Battle of Lepanto, in which a coalition of European states defeated the Turks, more or less preventing the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Western Europe and so defending Christianity against Islam. Serpotta’s cherubs, oblivious to international affairs, romp up and down the walls and climb onto window frames.

State-of-the-Art Art

This city that so richly evokes past conquerors and baroque grandeur also has a rich contemporary art scene, with a beachhead in the beautiful 18th-century Palazzo Riso, home to the Polo Museo d’Arte Contemporanea della Sicilia, Via Vittorio Emanuele 365 (tel. 091/587-717; 6€; open Tues–Wed and Sun 10am–7:30pm, Thurs–Sat 10am–11:30pm). Rotating exhibitions feature contemporary artists, while works by their predecessors, mostly late-19th and 20th-century Sicilian artists, fill a 15th-century Franciscan convent and an adjoining church, now the Galleria d’Arte Moderna (GAM), Via Sant’Ana 21 (tel. 091/843-1605; 7€; open Tues–Sun 9:30am–6:30pm). To best appreciate the galleries, use the excellent English-language audio guides.

House of Tiles

One of Palermo’s delightful hidden treasures is the Stanza al Genio, a collection of 2,300 historic tiles of Neapolitan and Sicilian manufacture. They cover every inch of a private apartment on the piano nobile of an old palace in the Kalsa district. An informative guide will walk you through the kitchen, dining room, and living room, explaining the glorious ceramics carpeting the walls and floors. The museum is at Via Garibaldi 11 (tel. 340/097-1561); Tuesday–Sunday tours in English are at 10am and 3pm, in Italian at 11am and 4pm. Admission is 9€.

Just Relax!

Experience what it must have been like when the Moors had these baths all over the city. At Hammam, Via Torrearsa 17/d (tel. 091-320783; www.hammam.pa.it), there is an oasis of vigorous scrubs, sensuous steam baths, and soothing massages. Sybaritic doesn't even begin to cover it.

Palermo is like a grand shopping bazaar. You'll find a little bit of everything here, including boutiques of high fashion. Many shoppers seek out the expert artisans known for their skill in producing any number of goods, especially beautiful coral jewelry. Along the streets and alleyways of La Kalsa you'll still find ironworkers and other craftsmen who continue centuries-old traditions. Embroidered fabrics are another specialty item. Some visitors come to Palermo just to purchase ceramics and antiques.

Palermo markets are the most colorful in southern Italy. At these markets, all the bounty of Sicily -- fruits, vegetables, fish -- is elegantly displayed. Since it is unlikely you will be staying in accommodations with kitchen facilities, the markets are mainly for sightseeing, although they do offer an array of clothing and crafts as well.

For the best shopping, head for Via Ruggero Settimo and Via della Libertà, north of the city's medieval core, within a 19th-century residential neighborhood of town houses and mid-20th-century apartment buildings that evoke some of the more upscale residential sections of Barcelona. Within this same neighborhood, Via Principe di Belmonte is an all-pedestrian thoroughfare with many hip and elegant shops, as well as fashionable cafes. The two other principal shopping streets in the Old Town are Via Roma and Via Maqueda.

Monday morning is the worst time to shop, as nearly all stores are closed. Otherwise, general shopping hours are Tuesday to Friday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 7 or 7:30pm, Saturday 4 to 8pm. Some department stores are open on Mondays, and some shops in the city center are open at lunchtime and generally on the first Sunday of the month. Outdoor markets such as the Capo are closed on Wednesday afternoon.

Markets

The Muslims were active traders, and Palermo's markets, which spill over into narrow alleys shaded by colorful awnings, still have an Arab feel. Nothing else connects you with local life more than a visit to a bustling Palermo market.

The most fabled market in Palermo is La Vucciria. In Sicilian dialect, vucciria means the "place of loud voices," and that's what you'll hear here; some maintain that the word is a corruption of the French "boucherie," (butcher). The market spills onto the narrow side streets of Piazza San Domenico, off Via Roma between Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Cala. This is one of Europe's great Kasbah-like markets, with mountains of food ranging from fresh swordfish steaks to all sorts of meat and recently harvested produce, reflecting the bounty of the Sicilian countryside. Sadly, it's no longer as vibrant and bustling as it once was, as supermarkets have come to fill the needs of shoppers. This market trades Monday through Saturday until 2pm. Try to go before 10am, when it's at its most frenetic and colorful. The markets described below keep roughly the same hours.

If you're seized with market fever, you can also visit Mercato di Capo, the largest of the street markets that captures some of the spirit of the city's Saracen past. This market sprawls around the area of Chiesa di Sant'Agostino. Clothing stalls flank the streets of Via S. Agostino and Via Bandiera; the items here tend to be cheap and poorly made. More interesting is the food section off Via Volturno, which spreads along Via Beati Paoli and Via Porta Carini. The most colorful part of this market converges around Piazza Beati Paoli. The stalls wind toward the old gate, Porta Carini, which used to be a part of the city wall surrounding Palermo. At the Capo, make sure to visit the spiceman, the polyglot Antonello, at his well-stocked bodega at Via Porta Carini 45.

The third great market of Palermo is Ballarò, in the Albergheria district, roughly between Piazza Carmine leading to Piazza Casa Professa and Piazza S. Chiara. This is mainly a food market, with mountains of fruits and vegetables along with fishmongers and hawkers of discount clothing.

Delve even deeper into Palermo's market culture at the neighborhood Borgo Vecchio market (along Via Ettore Ximenes to Via Principe di Scordia) in the newer part of the city, northwest of Piazza Politeama.

One Person's Junk is Another Person's Treasure -- Steps away from the cathedral on a tree-lined street that looks like a row of abandoned bodegas, the Mercato delle Pulci (Flea Market), along the Piazza Peranni, off Corso Vittorio Emanuele, is a treasure-trove for everything from tacky trinkets to fine pieces of period furniture; even entire ceramic floorings have been uplifted from abandoned palaces and are sold in some makeshift storefronts. Of course, I can't guarantee the authenticity of what you're buying, and you'll need a trained eye to distinguish genuine antiques from fakes. But know this: Some years ago, a university student was seeking some cheap furniture. He purchased a coffee table, paying literally peanuts for it. When he re-sold it, much to his delightful shock, he found out that the table was an Art Nouveau original, meaning he got the equivalent of 2,000€ for it!

Considering its size, Palermo has a scarcity of nightlife and is considerably outclassed by Catania. Although they are improving somewhat, many areas of Palermo with bars and taverns (such as La Kalsa or Albergheria) are still not safe for walking around at night. And some of the bars and taverns in the medieval core of Palermo last the blink of an eye.

The liveliest squares at night -- and the relatively safest because lots of people are here -- are Piazza Castelnuovo and Piazza Verdi. Another "safe zone" is a pedestrian strip flanked by bars and cafes, many with sidewalk tables, along Via Principe di Belmonte, between Via Roma and Via Ruggero Settimo. Some of these bars have live pianists in summer. If you're into the student/rock scene, head to Via Candelai near the Quattro Canti for lively evenings.

If you're interested in the arts and cultural venues, stop by the tourist office and pick up a copy of Lapis, which documents cafes and other venues offering live music in summer.

The old Vucciria market, no longer the lively shopping souk it once was, is remerging as a nightlife scene. Via Chiavettieri, leading into the neighborhood off Via Vittorio Emanuele, is lined with bars where your aperitivo comes with free cicchetti (snacks). The decrepit old market square and lanes surrounding it are also lined with street-food outlets and bars, and the square fills up with tables on weekends—and during soccer matches, broadcast on a huge outdoor screen. Some of the most sophisticated watering holes are in the New City. Few are more generous than Graal, several blocks beyond Teatro Massimo at Via Sant’Oliva 10 (tel. 091/333-533), where cocktails come with a cornucopia of appetizers: pasta, seafood, pizza, so much food you probably won’t need dinner afterward.

The Arts

Palermo is not the thriving cultural capital it was in the late 1800s, but it still does have an impressive opera and ballet season running from November to July, with programs attracting audiences from around the world. These take place at the Teatro Massimo in Piazza Verdi (tel. 800-907080; www.teatromassimo.it). It boasts the largest indoor stage in Europe after the ones at the opera houses of Paris and Vienna, and according to some experts it has the best acoustics in Europe. Francis Ford Coppola shot the climactic opera scene here for The Godfather: Part III. The two lions flanking the staircase rival those at the central branch of the New York Public Library. The theater was built between 1875 and 1897 by the architect G.B. Filippo Basile in a neoclassical style, and reopened after a restoration in 1997 to celebrate its 100th birthday. Tickets range from 10€ to 125€. The box office is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 3pm. Guided tours in English are given Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm and cost 8€, 5€ for under 25 (bus 101–104, 107, 122, or 225).

If you have only 1 night for theater in Palermo, make it the Teatro Massimo. However, Politeama Garibaldi, Piazza Ruggero Settimo (tel. 091-6053315), is also extravagant (though the acoustics are terrible), and it too presents a wide season of operatic and orchestral performances. Built around the same time as the Massimo Theater, it came to be known as the "poor man's opera house:" Patrons couldn't afford -- nor could they mingle with -- the upper classes at the Massimo. It is lavishly decorated on the outside in the neoclassical style of the time, topped with a stunning bronze quadriga. Bus: 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 124, 806, or Linea Rossa.

Bars/Cafes

Start off an evening by heading to one of the many cafes in town that offer aperitivo rinforzato, a happy hour that is literally a full-fledged meal. The area in front of the Massimo Theater, known as the Champagneria, is crammed with these places that offer all-you-can-eat with drinks, and is without a doubt the liveliest place in town. If you have to choose one, then let it be the original Champagneria, Via Spinuzza 59 (tel. 091-335730), and enjoy a glass from its well-stocked wine cellar.

Live Music

Palermo lacks live music venues, which is surprising considering its concentration of young people. The city's main venue is I Candelai, Via Candelai 65 (tel. 091-327151; www.candelai.it), which has been going strong for 10-plus years. It features mainstream rock throughout the night in a crowded complex of teens and university students. The club hosts cover bands, up-and-coming acts, the occasional international artist, and, on weekdays, anything goes from DJ sets to tango lessons. There is no cover, but it is necessary to buy a membership card. Another place that's been going strong for many years, and is always packed with locals, is I Grilli Downtown, Largo Cavalieri di Malta (tel. 091-584747). It's really alive and kicking on weekends.

Gay & Lesbian

Gay and lesbian bars in Palermo are picking up, though most are more politically-oriented associations than hangouts. Many gay encounters occur on the streets, in cafes, and around squares. That said, gays and lesbians from 18 to 70 converge at Exit, Piazza San Francesco di Paola 39-40 (tel. 348-7814698), daily 10pm to 3am. Live rock or pop is often presented. In summer, tables are placed outside, fronting the beautiful square. Bus: 108, 118, 122, or 124.