 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Palermo : Sights | Shops | Restaurants | Festivals South : Siracusa | Baroque Towns | Temples | BeachesPalermo: Highlights Palermo is a rich and evocative city of literally crumbling palazzi, seemingly drab churches hiding fantastically Baroque interiors, a yacht-lined seafront, bustling street markets that could be in north Africa, flagged alleys worn smooth by centuries of footsteps, boys on vespas throwing eggs just for fun, tourists in horse-drawn carriages, fine restaurants and wine bars in bombed out shells and vaulted halls. It was once a flagship of Arab culture (to rival Cordoba and Cairo), then the seat of Norman kings in the 11-12th centuries; it enjoyed a renaissance of Baroque civic architecture in the 17-18th centuries, before being bombed out in WW2 and succumbing to political corruption and internal strife during the mafia years. Today's city is one of those melting pots of European and Arab cultures, where you meet people of all nationalities, backgrounds and skin colours, dine on everything from pasta to couscous to sushi, and admire architecture embracing Arab, Gothic and Neoclassical, all in varying states of repair. Norman palace and Palatine chapel: the palace of Kings Roger II and Frederick II was largely rebuilt in the 15-16th centuries, and is now the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. You can visit its arcaded courtyard, its stately rooms (including the beautifully-mosaiced Sala di Re Ruggero) and, most impressive of all, the royal chapel, whose Arab-painted ceiling and Greek-bejewelled Pantocrator will fair take your breath away. You can get it back in the lush gardens and peaceful cloister of San Giovanni degli Eremiti.  The Cathedral: another Norman-Arab-Neoclassical hybrid, this imposing sand-coloured edifice displays all the architectural styles of the city's history. You'll find Arab inscriptions of the Koran, Gothic windows, a Catalan portico, a 15th-century portal, a Baroque majolica cupola and an austere but impressive interior with Norman tombs.Palazzo Abatellis art gallery: this imposing 15th-century Catalan-Gothic palace houses 16 rooms of Sicilian art, including a rather grizzly medieval fresco by an unknown artist portraying 'The Triumph of Death' in the guise of a skeletal knight mounted on a white horse. There are also sculptures, majolicas and carvings from the 12th-16th centuries. Archaeological Museum: worth visiting just for the classical metopes recovered from the temples at Selinunte – Sicily's equivalent of the Elgin marbles – but you'll also find Greek vases, Roman sculpture, Etruscan artefacts, Egyptian hieroglyphics and a 3000-year-old monumental stone.  Monreale cathedral: if you have time to visit this pinnacle of Arab-Norman religious art 10km outside the city centre, don't miss it (you can take a taxi, hire car or bus, including #8, #9, #809). The 12th-century church has magnificent gold mosaics across the entire nave, aisles, choir and transepts, dominated by an all-embracing Pantocrator in the apse. The cloister of the adjacent Benedictine monastery has beautifully decorated Arab arches and 228 pairs of marble columns whose capitals are sculpted with different Biblical scenes.Enoteca Picone (via Marconi 36) for Sicilian and Italian wines, including some excellent Nero d'Avola, plus olive oil, fresh pasta, honey and jams, all of which you can taste before buying at their gourmet snack bar on viale Strasburgo near Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi. Mangia Delicatessen (via Principe del Belmonte 116) for cold cuts, cheeses, tuna and other fish. Via della Libertà and neighbouring via Enrico Parisi for upscale boutiques such as Frette (linens), Furla (leather), Visiona (fashion) and Lethu (French housewares). Street markets of Ballaró, Vucciria and del Capo, as much for the people-watching, dialect banter and lively atmosphere as for the opportunities to buy fresh fruit, veg, meat and household goods.  Kursaal Kalhesa (Foro Umberto 1): bookshop, jazz venue, wine bar and restaurant all combined under a vaulted stone roof, with summer terrace, winter fireplace and a very groovy young clientele. 30 page winelist, and 10 pages of cocktails! €40-60pp.Ai Vespri (Piazza Sant'Anna): intimate space with huge wine list, excellent ingredients and unusual but highly successful combinations (sardines with fennel, huge ricciola fish with courgette and basil mousse). €30-50pp including gastronomic menus at €38 (for 4 courses) and €45 (for 5). Cucina Papoff (Via Isidoro Lumia 32 nr Piazza Politeama): if you're in the north of town, check out this typical Sicilian eatery, very popular with the locals, for pasta, pizza and oven-cooked meat and veg dishes. €25-35pp. Al Genio (Piazza San Carlo 9): recommended for cheap and cheerful Palermitan dishes, including pasta with swordfish, mint and almonds. €20-30pp. Stancampiano (Via Notarbarolo 51) has the creamiest gelati, the biggest range of flavours and the best bow-tied waiters in Sicily; and in summer it's open 24 hours a day! As life moves outdoors from June to September, the city squares and gardens host all manner of concerts, theatre shows, religious and folklore events… Kals'Art: mid July to mid September A 2-month open-air celebration in the city's Kalsa quarter, which has gone from strength to strength since its 2003 inauguration. It covers music (mostly ethnic, jazz and emerging local pop bands), cinema (open-air screenings, mostly in Italian), theatre (daily performances in Italian during the middle fortnight of the festival) and art (mostly modern). There's also an open-door policy on Thur-Fri-Sat evenings to all the churches and other historic buildings within the Kalsa quarter, including the Palazzo Mirto museum, the Catena and Magione churches and Chiaramonte Palace. Click here for details. Verdura Festival: July Pop, rock, jazz and musical gigs take over the Teatro Massimo during the summer months. Recent performers include Chick Corea, Caetano Veloso, Simple Minds and Gianna Nannini. Click here for programme details. Santa Rosalia Festival: 9-15 July Huge parades and processions through the historical centre, in memory of Palermo's patron saint who saved the city from plague 400 years ago and has been honoured annually ever since. It culminates in an evening of music and fireworks. Teatro Massimo: September to June Classical, ballet and opera performances - usually one ballet / opera show per month playing for 7-10 days, and one classical concert per month. Click here for programme details. Kals'Art Winter: December – early Jan Classical music concerts in churches around the city, plus fairy-tale street lighting. Click here for details. World Festival on the Beach at Mondello: mid may Windsurfing, kite-surfing, beach volley, sailing, golf, jazz and classical music. Click here for details. Other events include 'Church Music at Monreale' (late Oct - early Nov), a pilgrimage to Monte Pellegrino (September 4th) and 'Il Genio di Palermo' Contemporary Art Exhibitions (late May). Siracusa and Southern Sicily: Highlights  Siracusa (Syracuse), the historic Greek metropolis and home of Archimedes and Aeschylus. It's now a bustling city with a charming Baroque centre on a sea-washed headland (actually an island) called Ortigia. Make a quick visit to the ancient latomia (quarry) with its ear-shaped aperture in the rockface and still-used theatre (home of Aeschylus' tragedies); stop at the catacombs and archaeological museum if you still have the energy; then spend the rest of your time browsing Ortigia's narrow lanes (good shopping, ice creams and a scaffolded cathedral) and its charmingly crumbling lungomare (sea-walls), which come to a head at the C13 castle of Maniace Noto, Ragusa, Modica and Scicli: four Baroque towns, all Unesco Heritage sites, which make up the crown jewels in the treasure trove of south-eastern Sicily. Ornate churches, grand (though crumbling) palaces, close-packed townhouses with carved façades and neo-classical pilasters were all (re)built after a 1693 earthquake in local honey-coloured limestone, making their cobbled roads a delight to wander through. And there are fantastic restaurants (including a Michelin-star in Ragusa), delicatessen, ice cream and pastry shops to break up your sightseeing.Roman Villa del Casale near Piazza Armerina. After being buried in mud for 700 years, the mosaic floors of this C3AD hunting lodge and summer home were recently revealed in all their polychromatic glory; you can see hunting scenes, bikini'd gymnasts, the labours of Hercules and a frigidarium (cold bath room) with mythical sea creatures. A little further are the little-visited (and occasionally closed) ruins of the Greek-Roman city of Morgantina, including a theatre, agora, gymnasium and panoramic views.  Valley of the Temples at Agrigento: one of the finest Greek sites in the world. Perched on low hills overlooking the sea are 3 well preserved Doric temples from the 5th century BC (though 2 are partly covered in scaffolding at the time of writing) and the jumbled remains of a 4th, which was once the largest in the ancient world; plus a walled sanctuary, ancient roads, city walls, and a Roman quarter. In the museum you can see (though, currently, 4 rooms out of 12 are closed for refurbishment): vases, sarcophagi, marble statues, Roman mosaics, a half-size model of the largest temple, and a reconstruction of the stone gigante (giants) who once supported its roof. Come early to avoid the crowds; afterwards have lunch in the medieval town centre, perhaps at the simple osteria of Ruga Reali on Piazza Pirandello. The beaches of Vendicari Nature Reserve near Capo Passero (the southeast tip). Lots of secluded sandy coves, with great wildlife including orchids, turtles, flamingos and other migrating birds. They are accessible only on foot, starting either from the medieval tower of Vendicari or at the little-known site of Eloro, though the latter involves a tricky river crossing. Our favourites are Calamosche and Balsamo, both about 30 mins' walk from either end. Come midweek in April-May and you can have a beach to yourselves. The gorges of Cava Grande and Pantalica near Noto / Siracusa. In the former, a crystal clear river squeezes between striated rocks and pink oleanders into turquoise pools big enough for an Olympic swimmer. The path starts from a belvedere on the country lane linking Avola with the Noto-Palazzolo road, and takes 45 mins down, 15-45 minutes along (depending how far you want to go), and an hour back up the same way. The latter has sheer cliffs pocked with 8,000 ancient cave-tombs (where the red-glazed pottery of Syracuse's museum was found), and a lush valley where rabbits, porcupines, falcons and trout hide. You can follow a disused railway 5km through the gorge from near Cassaro, though you'd have to return the same way or by taxi; or make a circuit from the river-junction between Sortino and Ferla. A local company, Sudestremo, organises mountain-biking, climbing, canyoning and birdwatching trips in both gorges.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quick search |
| or |
| or |
| or Detailed Search |
