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Photo: Jules Vaulont, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The oldest royal residence in Europe, the home of the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily and imperial seat of the Emperor Frederick II. The palace contains the Cappella Palatina, the best example of the Arab-Norman style of Sicily. Nowadays it is the seat of the Sicilian Parliament.
The Palazzo dei Normanni, also called Royal Palace of Palermo, is a palace in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. It was the seat of the Kings of Sicily with the Hauteville dynasty and served afterwards as the main seat of power for the subsequent rulers of Sicily. Since 1946 it has been the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The building is the oldest royal residence in Europe; and was the private residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily and the imperial seat of Frederick II and Conrad IV.
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Cappella Palatina
It's one of the artistic gems of Palermo: a chapel with magnificent mosaics and Arabian-style decorations, among the most beautiful in the world. It is inside of Palazzo dei Normanni.
Church notable for its brilliant red domes, which show the persistence of the Arab influences in the 12th century, with its typical Arab-Norman style. The €6 admission ensures that the lovely garden is quiet and peaceful.
Honey-coloured and Catalan influenced. Frederick II, Barbarossa's grandson, died in 1250 and is buried here, far from his ancestral home above Hohenstaufen, Germany. Frederick's sarcophagus is of porphyry dyed with imperial purple.
The Gesu Church is one of the most architecturally important in Palermo. Constructed between 1564–1633, its late date of completion resulted in an abundant use of polychrome marbles on both floors and walls. This form of decoration, which gradually evolved in Sicily from the beginning of the 17th century, was a mark of the beginning of the Sicilian Baroque period, which was to give Sicily almost an architectural national identity. The church has a modest facade and it's hidden in back street in central Palermo, unlike the great cathedral this one you have to look for.
The catacombs of the Capuchin convent contain over 8,000 mummified ex-residents from Palermo and its surrounding villages, some merely clothed skeletons, other remarkably well-preserved and lifelike. Well worth a visit, interesting, if slightly morbid. Children may either find it exciting or terrifying, and it must be the responsibility of their parents to think carefully before taking them. You can arrive via the tram line and a 10- to 15-minute walk. Your visit will not take longer than one hour. No photography allowed