Palermo Travel Guide
For details of what to do and see in Palermo, Italy check out our Palermo guide to car hire in Palermo.
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Both the capital, and largest city in Sicily, Palermo is located in its own bay beneath the looming bulk of Monte Pellegrino. Having been originally a Phoenician colony, and then held by the Carthaginians, Palermo eventually passed into the hands of the Romans before being taken over by the Arabs more than a millennium ago.
Modern Palermo is a fast, exciting and brash city where an unexpected mix of Arabic and Viking influences are only one of the many surprises this unique city has to offer. Palermo though has one foot firmly in the past, with a number of stunning buildings dating from the medieval heyday of Sicily still around - the most noteworthy of which is the famous Palazzo dei Normanni. Sadly, the age of the buildings in Palermo are contrary to the needs of the modern world of traffic and building, and as a consequence, many of them are in need of repair.
At one time rivalling Venice, Genoa, and even Rome as one of the great Italian powers of the Mediterranean, Palermo became one of the greatest cities in Europe, famed for the wealth of its royal court and reputation as a centre of learning for the wealthy Elite, until the modern inertia of Sicilian life came about, and the island became the sleepy haven for tourists seeking an alternative side to Italian life.
When you leave Palermo itself, one place that is well worth visiting is the nearby village of Monreale where you can see the impressive Monastery and Cathedral of Monreale which are a short drive away.