Private Tours - Personal Guides

Founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC, it has been the capital of the island since the domination of the Arabs, which determined its period of true splendor.

Under the Normans and then with Frederick II it remained the center of the medieval culture in the Mediterranean. Seat of the Spanish Viceroys, it was enriched with marvelous baroque palaces, convents, monasteries and churches. Still splendid under the Bourbons after the unification of Italy, thanks above all to the Florio family of industrialists, it enjoyed international fame as a thriving commercial center in the early 1900s. It still bears evident at times the wounds of the bombings by the allies in 1943, but it certainly remains a fascinating and lively city with its important harbour.

On our way, a long but not tiring stroll through the historical center, you will admire among the others the Cathedral, the Norman Palace, the local markets, the Massimo theater, the Pretoria fountain, with short stops also to taste the typical Palermo take aways, such as the rice balls stuffed with meat sauce called “arancine” and sandwiches filled with fried chickpea flour called “panelle".