Highlights of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

The capital and largest city of Sicily does not enjoy a highly-recommended status among the travelers (and, like any other place in the South of Italy, is nowhere near the list of most-visited destinations in the country). It shows signs of habitual neglect all over its historic center. Garbage in the streets is an unavoidable constant. Few, if any, points of interest are of can’t-miss quality. Driving is notoriously nightmarish.

And yet, our first visit to Palermo - lasting just over a day and a half - left us with largely positive vibes. The eminently walkable city core is full of hidden gems. The tumultuous history left behind an interesting amalgam of cultures and styles in the architectural composition. And there is a level of vibrancy on a big-city scale that is not entirely diluted by visitors, as may happen in “top destination” locales.

Let’s start with elevated perspectives over the city, with a number of eye-catching sights regularly puncturing the mostly unremarkable roofline.

The selection of shots above is a mix of perspectives from two elevated viewpoints: the roof of the Cathedral and the observation deck of Chiesa del Santissimo Salvatore.

The focal center of the old town is Quattro Canti, “the four songs”. This is where the four historic districts touched each other to combine into one multi-cultural city. There are four Baroque slightly concave façades built in a uniform way with fountains and statues, representing one of the earliest examples of town planning. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).