Palermo – The classic tourist destination Italy attracts numerous Swiss holidaymakers every year. Dream destination is often the legendary Sicily. The largest island of the Mediterranean lies directly before the point of the boot and counts scarcely five million inhabitants. With a coastline of around 1,500 km, Sicily offers countless opportunities, especially for beach vacations and water sports. If you are looking for relaxation as an individual vacationer, you will find suitable accommodation on all coasts, including comfortable holiday apartments and spacious vacation homes, some of which can accommodate six or more people. The offer is particularly large in the northwest of the island.
In the region between Trapani, with its baroque buildings and salt pans, and the island’s capital, Palermo, there are a number of popular resorts. Here, not far from the white sandy beaches on the crystal clear sea, suitable vacation apartments or villas can be booked. The whole island owes not least to its eventful history attractive destinations for a varied vacation. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Normans left their traces, later the Hohenstaufen, the Aragonese, Austrians and the Spanish branch of the Bourbons. Since 1860, Sicily has belonged to Italy.
Palermo – melting pot and feast for the eyes.
A side trip to the “bubbling” Sicilian metropolis of Palermo, which has over 650,000 inhabitants, is definitely worthwhile. Here there are masses of photo motifs, lots of picturesque corners, magnificent palazzi, parks and beautiful houses of worship. Palermo is located on a bay, overlooked by the pilgrimage mountain, Monte Pellegrino. Particularly striking sights of the city are the Palazzo Reale, which towers on the highest point of the old town. The imposing Moorish-Norman style building was built in the 9th century as the summer residence of the Emir of Palermo, and after the Norman conquest of Sicily by Roger II in the 12th century, it was converted into a royal palace. Today, Palazzo Reale is the seat of the Sicilian regional parliament.
Nearby stands another jewel of architecture, the Cathedral of the Archbishopric. It was built in the 12th century on the foundations of a mosque. The Norman Cathedral impresses with its apse preserved in its original style, with its pointed towers in the Catalan Gothic style, and with a porch that incorporates a stone element of the former mosque. Inside the cathedral are the sarcophagi of medieval ruler figures, including the remains of Roger II and the Hohenstaufen emperors Henry VI and Frederick II.
Oriental bazaars and wide boulevards.
The port city of Palermo, with its numerous large and small markets in the historic center, is reminiscent in places of an oriental bazaar. On the other hand wide boulevards with art nouveau villas, elegant stores and open-air cafes invite you to stroll. With the seaside suburb of Modello, a former fishing village, the city has its own Copacabana, where a dazzling white sandy beach beckons. Gourmets also like to make a pilgrimage to Mondello, where they can dine at the “Charleston” or the “Bue Note”.
Palermo’s chefs have an excellent reputation in Italy, where the palate is spoiled. Nowhere does the Pasta alla Norma (with eggplant and feta cheese) taste so good, nowhere where else are the Spaghetti alla Carettiera (with garlic, olive oil, pepperoncino, parsley and salted ricotta) and the Pasta alle Sarde (with anchovies and toasted white bread crumbs) so delicate as in the Conca d’Oro, and nowhere else is the Cassata alla Siciliana so skillfully prepared as in Palermo. If you have your own kitchen available in your vacation apartment, you can get advice everywhere. There is nothing else people like to talk about in Sicily than about food and cooking recipes.
Typical for Sicily is the adherence to ancient small dishes, such as the spleen roll (panino con la milza). The freshly roasted, shredded spleen is seasoned with coarse salt, with a few drops of lemon juice and shreds of cheese, the whole thing wedged into a sesame seed bun. What was once an integral part of Sicilian poor cuisine is now a specialty, prepared with particular refinement in the mythical “Antica Focacceria San Francesco” in via Alessandro Paternostro in the heart of Palermo’s old town.