Palermo's swagger and scruffy charm
From its opera house to its art galleries, the Sicilian city is 'adorable and underrated'

Set on a "glittering" bay against a sweeping mountain backdrop, Palermo is the most "adorable and underrated" city in Italy, says Stanley Stewart in Condé Nast Traveller.
For millennia, the Sicilian capital was "central to a sprawling cosmopolitan world", and it has seen a dizzying array of overlords, from the Phoenicians and the Romans to the Arabs, the Normans and beyond. It is a place of "great swagger", like a stage set, with its "theatrical confusion" of ornate facades. But it has none of the "studied" finesse that makes some Italian cities feel like museums. It is "as untidy as life" – chaotic, irrepressible, and yet possessed of an air of "vulnerability", too, with "its past troubles, its shabby side streets, its relative lack of resources".
Today, however, it is seeing a "spirited renaissance" – making this an exciting time to visit. Palermo's cathedral is like a microcosm of the city – a fabulous hotchpotch of architectural elements, built by the Normans in the 12th century on Byzantine foundations, incorporating bits of a former mosque, and altered repeatedly in the centuries since. No less grand is the opera house – the third largest in Europe, after Paris's and Vienna's – and the city's great palaces, including the Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi, where Visconti shot the dazzling, 47-minute ballroom scene of "The Leopard", his 1963 film of Lampedusa's great novel.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But whatever you do, however, don't get too hooked on sightseeing. Palermo's magic lies close to its streets – in its colourful old markets, its small trattorias, its excellent pastry shops (try the ricotta tarts made from an old convent recipe at I Segreti del Chiostro), and so on. The city's opportunities – its low rents, unrestored buildings, and "sense of authenticity" – have recently made it "a magnet for startups". There's no shortage of new bookshops, bars and designer boutiques, while new galleries (such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sicily and the Gallery of Modern Art) have opened in old palazzi. Yet this doesn't feel like "gentrification" – just "new ideas fitting into Palermo's wonderful chaos".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’
Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
9 haunted hotels where things definitely go bump in the night
The Week Recommends Don’t fear these spirited spots. Embrace them.
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
The 5 best zombie TV shows of all time
The Week Recommends For undead aficionados, the age of abundance has truly arrived
-
6 incredible homes under $1 million
Feature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classic
The Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period drama
The Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
-
Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thriller
The Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’