Palermo is like an oyster: the sea on one side, the mountains on the other and a beautiful pearl just in the middle. There is some dirt and there is beauty, and its history goes back centuries in time.

Very different people and cultures lived here during all over Palermo’s history: from Phoenicians , to Romans, Arabs, Normans, French, Spanish…. and all of you can feel the echo of their passage in our local dialect, the food, the architecture and so much more.

Travelling across Palermo is therefore a voyage across history and all the people who built it and most of all lived it.

For those who were born there like myself, many of the stories I am going to share have been bedtime stories or grandparents’ storytelling. There is a lot of folklore in those stories of course, but there are also some truths.
For sure, walking through the city surrounded by its sounds, smells and sights it has never been difficult to imagine the old, busy harbor, the Arabs markets and palaces, the royal court of the holy roman emperor Frederick II (who is now resting in Palermo’s Cathedral), the ballrooms full of mirrors packed with people dancing waltz and mazurka like a scene from the Leopard, up until the elegance and the  beauty of the Liberty period and its icons such as the Florio or the Whitaker.

So, what are we waiting for? Make yourself comfortable and let’s start!