Palermo Palermu (Sicilian)
Comune
Comune di Palermo
Palermo Cathedral Interior of Santa Caterina Church Norman Palace Piazza Pretoria San Giuseppe dei Teatini the Virgin Annunciate in the Palazzo Abatellis Zisa
Flag Coat of arms
The municipality of Palermo within the Metropolitan City of Palermo
Location of Palermo
Palermo Location of Palermo in Sicily Show map of Italy Palermo Palermo (Sicily) Show map of Sicily
Coordinates: 38°06′40″N 13°21′06″E / 38.11111°N 13.35167°E / 38.11111; 13.35167
Country	Italy
Region	Sicily
Metropolitan city	Palermo (PA)
Founded	736 BC
Government
• Mayor	Roberto Lagalla (UDC)
Area [1]
• Total	158.9 km2 (61.4 sq mi)
Elevation	14 m (46 ft)
Population  (31 January 2013)[2]
• Total	676,118 (city) 1,300,000 (metro)
Demonym(s)	Palermitano Panormito Palermitan (English)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	90100
Dialing code	091
ISTAT code	082053
Patron saint	Saint Rosalia, Saint Agata, Saint Oliva and Saint Benedict the Moor
Saint day	14 July
Website	Official website

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Palermo (/pəˈlɛərmoʊ, -ˈlɜːr-/ pə-LAIR-moh, -⁠LUR-,^[3] Italian: [paˈlɛrmo] ^ⓘ; Sicilian: Palermu Sicilian pronunciation: [paˈlɛmmʊ], locally also Paliemmu or Palèimmu)^[4][a] is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as Sis ("flower"). Palermo then became a possession of Carthage. Two Greek colonies were established, known collectively as Panormos; the Carthaginians used this name on their coins after the 5th century BC. As Panormus, the town became part of the Roman Republic and Empire for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule in the Emirate of Sicily when the city became the capital of Sicily for the first time. During this time the city was known as Balarm.^[5] Following the Norman conquest, Palermo became the capital of a new kingdom, the Kingdom of Sicily, that lasted from 1130 to 1816.^[6]

The population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, while its metropolitan area is the fifth most populated in Italy with around 1.2 million people. In the central area, the city has a population of around 676,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Palermitani or, poetically, panormiti. The languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language and the Palermitano dialect of the Sicilian language.

Palermo is Sicily's cultural, economic and tourism capital. It is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food. Numerous tourists are attracted to the city for its appealing Mediterranean climate, its renowned gastronomy^{[citation needed]} and restaurants, its Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque^[7] and Art Nouveau^[8] churches, palaces and buildings, and its nightlife and music.^[9] Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center: the main industrial sectors include tourism, services, commerce and agriculture.^[10] Palermo has an international airport and a significant underground economy.^{[citation needed]} For cultural, artistic and economic reasons, Palermo is one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. It is the main seat of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale. The city is also going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area.^[11]

Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitan culture. The Patron Saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia whose Feast Day is celebrated on 15 July. The area attracts significant numbers of tourists each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit, vegetable and fish markets at the heart of Palermo, known as Vucciria, Ballarò and Capo.^[12]

Geography

Palermo lies in a basin, formed by the Papireto, Kemonia and Oreto rivers. The basin was named the Conca d'Oro (the Golden Basin) by the Arabs in the 9th century. The city is surrounded by a mountain range which is named after the city itself. These mountains face the Tyrrhenian Sea. Palermo is home to a natural port and offers views to the sea, especially from Monte Pellegrino.

Climate

Palermo experiences a hot-summer subtropical Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with moderate seasonality. Summers are very long, hot and dry due to the domination of subtropical high pressure system, while winters are mild and changeable, with rainy weather due to the polar front.^[13] Temperatures in autumn and spring are typically warm. Palermo is one of the warmest cities in Europe (mainly due to its warm nights), with an average annual air temperature of 18 °C (64 °F); it is one of the warmest cities in Italy. It receives approximately 2,530 hours of sunshine per year. Snow is a rare occurrence having snowed about a dozen times since 1945.^[14] Since the 1940s to nowadays there have been at least five times when considerable snowfall has occurred. In 1949 and in 1956, when the minimum temperature went down to 0 °C (32 °F), the city was blanketed by some centimetres of snow.^[15] Snowfalls also occurred in 1981, 1986, 1999 and 2014.^[16] The average annual temperature of the sea is above 19 °C (66 °F); from 14 °C (57 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. In the period from November to May, the average sea temperature exceeds 18 °C (64 °F) and in the period from June to October, the average sea temperature exceeds 21 °C (70 °F).^[17]