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Palermo

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Things to see in Palermo

Tourist information: 

Palermo Tourism
Piazza Castelnuovo 34
Tel: (091) 605 8351.
www.palermotourism.com

Other offices can be found at the airport (tel: (091) 591 698) and at Stazione Centrale (main train station) (tel: (091) 616 5914). There is also a toll-free phone line with English speaking operators for tourist information on the city (tel: 800 234 169).

Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs)

A darker option, these catacombs contain the bodies of some 8,000 ecclesiastics and distinguished citizens embalmed by Capuchin friars in the 17-19th centuries.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Via Cappuccini 1, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 212 117.
Galleria Regionale della Sicilia (Sicilian Regional Gallery)

Housed in the beautiful Abatellis Palazzo, this is a pictorial testimony to the island from the 11th-17th centuries. Don't miss the Triumph of Death (15th century), an amazing fresco by an unknown artist, and the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Via Alloro 4, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 623 0011.
Website: www.regione.sicilia.it
La Cattedrale (The Cathedral)

Originally a mosque, the cathedral has been altered and built on by most of Sicily's invaders, explaining its not altogether coherent exterior. Roger II's tomb is inside and the treasury contains religious artefacts such as a tiara belonging to Constance of Aragon.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 334 373.
Mercato della Vucciria (Vucciria Market)

Head to this very atmospheric place early in the morning to see the market at its busiest and most colourful. The local speciality is salted anchovies. The Vucciria, which spreads in a maze of side streets around Piazza San Domenico, is where the Mafia traditionally recruited its hitmen.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Piazza Caracciolo, Piazza Garraffello, Italy
Museo Etnografico Giuseppe Pitre (Ethnographic Museum Giuseppe Pitre)

The place to go for Sicilian handicrafts - lace, pottery, tools for hunting, fishing and agriculture and ornaments are all on show here.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Palazzina Cinese, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 740 4893.
Museo Internazionale delle Marionette (International Puppet Museum)

Over 3,000 exhibits, including Sicilian and foreign puppets and marionettes, are displayed here. The collection of puppets from Palermo, Catania and Naples is the widest and most complete in existence today.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Piazzetta Nisceni 5, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 328 060.
Website: www.museomarionettepalermo.it
Orto Botanico (Botanical Gardens)

The lush Orto Botanico is a tranquil oasis in the city that houses an enormous variety of exotic plants from all over the world.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Via Abramo Lincoln 2/A, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 623 8234 or 800 903 631, in Italy only.
Website: www.ortobotanico.palermo.it
Palazzo dei Normanni e Cappella Palatina (Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel)

The Palazzo, which used to be the royal residence in Norman times, is now the seat of the Regional Parliament. Founded by King Roger II in 1130, the Cappella Palatina is a jewel of Norman art with a splendid Arab honeycomb wooden ceiling and exquisite Byzantine mosaics in shades of gold and blue.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Palazzo dei Normanni e Cappella Palatina, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 705 1111 (Palace); 091 705 4732 (Chapel).
Website: www.ars.sicilia.it
San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St John of the Hermits)

Built in 1132, the site has undergone recent refurbishment. It is the most obviously Arabic of the city's Norman relics, with five ochre domes topping a little church built on the remains of an earlier mosque. The beautiful cloister and luxuriant garden make a peaceful haven in the Albergheria.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Via dei Benedettini, Palermo, Italy
Telephone: 091 651 5019.

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