You will discover the essence of the city through her fascinating icons.
Your starting point for this tour of Palermo is the Massimo Theatre, the third largest in Europe: a feast for the eyes. A scene change will take you to the “u Capu” market, where Palermo’s devotion to food melds with history and tradition. Here stands the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Through picturesque alleyways and old buildings, you will find yourselves at the Cathedral, the church erected by the Normans and reinterpreted across centuries by different dynasties that reigned in Sicily.
A coffee break, accompanied by a delicious cannoli, will be the prelude to our next destination. The Royal Palace, with its 3000 year old history, and its Palatina Dome, another example of a melding of Norman ideology, Byzantine mosaics, and Islamic touches. This style fluidity is also demonstrated at the Church of St. John of the Hermits, Arabic in its basis with cubic outlines and hemispheric domes. Once you’ve crossed the “Cassaro,” the oldest road in the city, you will arrive at the Quattro Canti o Teatro del Sole, the Sun Theatre of Four Voices, the exact center of a city where East has met West for centuries.
