The Piazza Bellini in Palermo, capital of the Italian region of Sicily. The square includes the Church of San Cataldo and its distinctive red domes. Photo / Francesco Lastrucci, The New York Times
Ambitious restaurants, a crop of natural wine bars and compelling new museums have raised the profile and allure of Palermo, writes Seth Sherwood.
“Sicily is not Italy,” reads stencilled graffiti around Palermo, a sign that some in the Sicilian capital view the city as both a physical and cultural outlier from the mainland. Influenced by Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman and Spanish conquerors, the port city has long been known for its distinctive dialect, original street food, medieval churches, faded Baroque buildings and — less happily — a historical association with the Mafia. But recent years have seen remarkable developments, and Palermo’s historical intrigue and low prices (relative to north and central Italy) remain largely intact.
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Friday
4pm | See art in a palace
Start with Palermo’s most exciting cultural newcomer, Palazzo Butera. The private art museum opened in 2021 in a grandiose aristocratic residence, built mainly over the 18th and 19th centuries, that was recently renovated. Next to the city’s port, the complex shows the collection of Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi, an Italian couple who amassed the works over some five decades. Within sumptuous rooms, some with painted ceilings and elaborate mouldings, are Tiffany lamps, 19th-century Orientalist paintings, Fabergé silver sculptures, Art Nouveau glassware, Gilbert and George photomontages, post-apocalyptic installations by Tetsumi Kudo and haunting canvases incorporating bones and husks from Claudio Costa, all provocatively jumbled together. Entry €10 ($17).
6pm | Stroll into the sunset
A passeggiata, or sunset stroll, in Palermo is a social ritual, as well as an opportunity for an open-air concert or aperitivo. Start at Quattro Canti, the lively intersection of Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda. There, a quartet of 17th-century stone facades chiselled with statues and built-in fountains form a de facto amphitheatre for street musicians, who perform a wide variety of music including Amy Winehouse and opera arias. Heading north up Via Maqueda, you pass clothing boutiques, souvenir shops, gelato parlours and numerous aperitivo bars. Maqueda Bistrot restaurant carries a wall of Sicilian wines, which you can buy and drink at outdoor tables for a €7 additional charge. For a classic Palermo snack, Cannoli & Co invites you to choose your shell size, cream flavour, and fruit or nut fillings (from €2.80).
8pm | Dine with a view
Entering DOBA Restaurant and Terrace is like being admitted into a speakeasy. Find the discreet door, push the button on the intercom, give your name and take the elevator to the top floor. There, a stunning 360-degree panorama of Palermo reveals bell towers, church domes and the largest opera house in Italy: the 19th-century Teatro Massimo across the street. Chef Domenico Basile returned to his native Palermo after years in New York, Paris and beyond to oversee this restaurant. Dishes include a savoury riff on French toast (topped with beef tartare, smoked-cheese mousse and shaved truffles) and tagliatelle entwined with raisins, mullet and roasted cherry tomatoes. The experience is enhanced by Basile circulating among tables with smiles and stories. Three-course dinner for two, without drinks, about €130.
11pm | Sip some Sicily
Dal Barone’s red neon sign draws droves of natural wine acolytes to its tiny space on Via Alessandro Paternostro in the teeming Kalsa district, an area that was levelled by Allied bombing in World War II but has come alive with restaurants and bars over the last decade. By early evening, drinkers have taken over the sidewalks, toasting Sicilian wines from Dal Barone’s roughly 20-page menu. The bacchanal continues nearby at Ojda. Fashion boutique and cafe by day, the minimalist space becomes a bar with a solid Sicilian natural wine selection and a large front patio by night.
Saturday
10am | Admire three churches
A symphony of architectural styles surrounds Piazza Bellini, a stony, sun-baked square in Palermo’s historic core. The 12th-century Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio church, identifiable by its rectangular tower, contains kaleidoscopic patterns of inlaid stone on its floor and richly painted religious scenes on the ceiling. But the main attractions are the dazzling Byzantine-style mosaics of angels and saints adorning the walls and cupola. Next door, atop the Church of San Cataldo (entry,€2.50), three red domes exemplify the Arab-Norman style, which emerged in the 11th century after conquerors with roots in Northern Europe deposed Sicily’s Arab rulers. Across the square, the Santa Caterina d’Alessandria church (entry, €3), built mainly in the 16th century, bursts with intricately sculpted Baroque reliefs and statues.
Noon | Buy Sicilian silk
During the day, Kalsa becomes a hotbed of homegrown design and fashion. The white, gallery-like MU Creative Space sells works by Palermo artist Cetti Davì, who mixes Japanese styles and local materials, such as Sicilian silk, in floral-print kimonos, white egg-shaped ceramic cups and more. At Junkle, discarded maritime materials like sails undergo a literal sea change, reborn as bags, backpacks, laptop cases and even dresses. For an elegant summer wardrobe, designer Valentina Margiotta’s Vali Boutique glows with radiant 1960s-inspired taffeta skirts and shimmery aquamarine silk jumpsuits executed by Palermo tailors. A list of local independent creators can be found on the Associazione Liberi Artigiani-Artisti Balarm website.
2pm | Follow the smell of fish
If it has a shell, scales, fins or gills, it might well be on the menu at L’Acerba Osteria Dinamica. Near the Mercato del Capo market, this fun and friendly seafood haven occupies a courtyard filled with vintage couches, tables and chairs. Thin, salty slices of grilled sardines are balanced by sweet slivers of caramelised onion and a drizzle of orange coulis, while tuna steak gets a tropical tweak from soy-mango sauce and charred orange peels. Also worthy of mention: a filling spaghetti with zucchini leaves, tender anchovy and crisp breadcrumbs. Just leave room for the deconstructed cannolo. A three-course meal for two, without drinks, costs around €80.
4pm | Glimpse Palermo’s past
During the 1970s and 1980s, brave photojournalists including Letizia Battaglia, Filippo La Mantia, Franco Zecchin and others undertook the grim task of documenting the crimes of the local Mafia, when the organisation was at the height of its power and ruthlessness. Steel yourself for these violent but important images, which recount a (mostly) bygone era of Palermo history. A severed head on a car seat. A boy brandishing a pistol with a silencer. These and other works form the permanent collection of the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, a photography museum in the Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa. The former manufacturing plant now houses a cinema, theatre, fine arts school and other cultural venues.
8pm | Score some dough
Archestrato di Gela is Palermo’s fast-rising pizza star, thanks to an impressive three-slice rating (the highest) last year by Italy’s prestigious Gambero Rosso food guide. On a leafy side street off Via della Libertà, the city’s main luxury shopping boulevard, the cosy and contemporary pizzeria stands out for its candlelit front porch and menu with dozens of combinations. Carnivores can happily sink their incisors into the Piano Notaro (€15), which has salty Sicilian pork sausage, slivers of red onion stewed in wine and caciocavallo cheese (denser and chewier than molten mozzarella). Vegetarians might prefer the Piano Mendola (€12), a concoction of tomato sauce, tiny tomatoes and a sprinkling of caciocavallo. Italian craft beers fill the drinks list.
Sunday
10am | Unearth market gems
Consider a Sunday stroll around the Piazza Marina, especially if your souvenir list includes old chandeliers, cut-glass decanters and oil paintings of uncertain provenance. The square’s weekly flea market, which operates alongside the 14th-century Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri — a high-walled fortified palace that once served as a prison — is notable for collectibles, from coins to postcards to Barbie dolls. Vinyl aficionados will enjoy Tony Records, whose expertly curated collection runs from John Coltrane to Kraftwerk, while sci-fi and steampunk fans will appreciate the fantastical metal sculptures of Salvatore Vella’s Saweldart stand. In his hands, old machine and auto parts are repurposed into strange creatures.
Noon | Eat in the street
Mentioned in texts from as far back as the Middle Ages, Mercato di Ballarò is Palermo’s oldest, liveliest and most multicultural market. It centres on Via Ballarò, where shops and makeshift bars sell a Sicilian cornucopia: swordfish heads, red shrimp, pistachios, nougat, spices, beef cuts, olives and more. Street food also abounds, from fried fish to cow spleen sandwiches, a Sicilian specialty. Forno Storico Pietro Marino serves textbook takes on Palermo classics such as arancina (a buttery, deep-fried rice ball with ham and cheese; 4 euros) and white sfincione (a focaccialike pizza topped with white cheeses; 4 euros). Barconi features gelato flavours by Antonio Cappadonia — an award-winning Sicilian gelato master — that include milky-sweet fior di latte and salty-creamy peanut. Better still, your cup or cone (€3) funds the establishment’s mission: employing migrants and refugees.
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Palazzo Butera houses an eclectic collection of decorative and contemporary art in a restored complex of historical residences.
DOBA Restaurant and Terrace serves neo-Sicilian food and has a stunning 360-degree view from its rooftop dining area.
Dal Barone is Palermo’s mecca of natural wine.
Down the street, Ojda is a cafe and clothing boutique by day and natural wine bar by night.
Tony Records, a purveyor of collectible vinyl albums, and Saweldart, a sculptor’s stall of fantastical creatures made from machine parts, are two highlights of the Sunday flea market at Piazza Marina.
WHERE TO EAT
Maqueda Bistrot carries a wall of Sicilian wines.
Cannoli & Co lets you customise the classic Sicilian pastry with your favourite flavours and fillings.
L’Acerba Osteria Dinamica dishes out contemporary seafood and pastas in a courtyard filled with vintage furniture.
Archestrato di Gela has been racking up awards for its pizzas, which are served in a cosy, contemporary space with a covered front porch.
Principe di Lampedusa is an elegant grey mansion in Kalsa, Palermo’s dining and nightlife district. Its 12 minimalist rooms, some with balconies overlooking the square in front, Piazza Cassa di Risparmio, start from €140 in August.
Surrounded by high walls, Bastione Spasimo hides lushly planted grounds and a saltwater swimming pool behind its imposing facade. Opened last year near the city’s botanical gardens, the renovated 16th-century edifice contains 15 rooms. Rooms from €181 in August.
BB Hotel — Hotel Palermo Quattro Canti is a three-star establishment that opened in 2019 along Via Vittore Emanuele, a major commercial street in Palermo’s historical centre. The rooftop restaurant and bar, Le Terrazze del Sole, offers views of the nearby Pretoria Fountain. Double rooms from€89 in August.
Short-term rentals abound in Palermo. To stay in the Centro Storico, the historical centre, expect to pay €70-€90 per night for a one-bedroom apartment.
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Palermo Airport with Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas and Lufthansa with two stopovers.
DETAILS
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Seth Sherwood
Photographs by: Francesco Lastrucci
©2023 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Skip the cold and enjoy the sunshine across the ditch.