Every design for Palermo

Palermo lies on the gulf that bears its name, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, with Monte Pellegrino on one side and a ring of mountains behind, a natural harbour that has drawn settlers for thousands of years. The Phoenicians called it Sis, the flower; the Greeks named it Panormos; under Arab rule it was Balarm, capital of the Emirate of Sicily; and the Normans made it the capital of a new kingdom.

No other city wears that layering so openly. Arab-Norman Palermo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can read it in the Cappella Palatina inside the Palazzo dei Normanni, in the Chiesa di San Cataldo and in the cathedral, the Cattedrale Santa Vergine Maria Assunta. The sonnet was born at the court of Frederick II, and the city later added Baroque churches and Art Nouveau villas to the mix.

Stand by the Fontana Pretoria at midday, then walk on to the Vucciria, Ballarò or the Capo, where the stalls are piled high with fruit, vegetables and fish and the Palermitano dialect is at its loudest.