The Palazzo dei Normanni, the Norman Palace, is the oldest royal residence in Europe, and it has been continuously in use for about a thousand years. The Arabs built a fortress on this rise above Palermo, and the Norman kings of the twelfth century made it their palace, adding towers, halls and a chapel. After them it passed to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, who held a court of poets, scientists and translators here, and the early Italian lyric is said to have started in this circle. Today the Sicilian Regional Assembly meets in the building, which makes it a working parliament as well as a monument.
The Palatine Chapel, inside, is the wonder. Roger II had it built in 1130, and its walls and dome are covered with golden mosaics showing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, in a Byzantine style, while the ceiling is a carved and painted wooden honeycomb in an Arab style, with scenes of feasting and hunting. The marble floor and columns are Roman and Norman, and a mosaic of Christ looks down from the apse. It is the combination of three cultures under a single roof, Latin, Greek and Arab, that gives it its unique feel, and almost everyone falls silent when they step inside.
Getting here means threading through the old city. The palace stands at the top of the Cassaro, the old main street, beside the Porta Nuova gate, and the traffic around it is fast and chaotic, with buses, scooters and tourist coaches. Cobbles can be slick after rain. Parking a bike near the palace is hard, so leave it in a car park or garage and walk up. The rest of the city, including the market at Ballarò, is within walking distance. Beyond the walls, the hill road to Monreale starts almost at the palace gate and climbs in a few tight bends.
Fuel stations are outside the centre, on the ring road and along the main avenues, and Palermo has no lack of food. Try a panino con la milza, a sandwich of spleen, the local street food, or a slice of cassata, a sweet ricotta cake covered with marzipan and candied fruit. Queues for the chapel can be long, so arrive early, and check opening times because they vary with services.