Palermo (Sicily Italy)

Palermo is a port city located on the northwestern coast of Sicily Island (Italy). This is Sicily's biggest city (population around 0,68 million, metro over 1,3 million) and the island's principal/main seaport, together with Messina.

Fincantieri (one of world's largest shipbuilding companies) owns the merchant shipbuilding yards Monfalcone (near Trieste), Marghera (Venice), Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Ancona, Castellammare di Stabia (near Naples) and Palermo. The company also owns the naval shipyards Riva Trigoso (Genoa) and Muggiano (La Spezia).

Port Palermo (officially Porto di Palermo/locode ITPMO) is one of the major Mediterranean cruise ports serving the passenger shipping traffic mainly between Italy and France (Western Mediterranean itineraries) and Greece (Eastern Mediterranean itineraries). The port is located near the ancient port Cala. Statistics show that the port handles annually around 7 million tons of cargo and ~2,3 million passengers (ferry and cruise). In 2014, the port handled around 200 ship calls and nearly 0,5 million cruise passengers.

Regularly scheduled cruiseferries (Ro-Pax ships carrying passengers and wheeled cargoes) link Palermo to major Mediterranean cities and carry a total of nearly 2 million passengers annually. Palermo is an important cruise port and cargo port, with annual traffic volumes ~80,000 TEU-containers and ~5 million tonnes of cargo. The port has island links to minor Sicilian isles like Ustica and Aeolian Islands (via Cefalu in summer). Inside the port is the "tourist marina" serving yachts and catamarans.

Palermo ferry services (provided by the companies GNV-Grandi Navi Veloci, Grimaldi Lines, Liberty Lines Fast Ferries, Tirrenia, Siremar) connect to the Italian ports Civitavecchia-Rome, Genoa, Naples, Livorno, Salerno, Cagliari Sardinia, Sicily (Milazzo, Messina), as well as to Tunisia (Tunis).

LIBERTY Lines (1993-founded, Trapani Sicily-based passenger shipping company with a fleet of hydrofoils/fast ferries) provides regularly scheduled daily crossings linking Palermo with Sicily's Aeolian Islands (Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Rinella, Salina, Stromboli, Vulcano) and Ustica Island.

Palermo was established by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC. It was a Carthaginian colony until 254 BC when it was taken by the Romans. Subsequently, Palermo passed into the hands of the Goths (AD 440), Byzantines (535), Saracens (831), Normans (1072), and Holy Roman Emperors (1194).

Lots of the oldest buildings in Palermo date from the period when Sicily was a Norman kingdom and show Byzantine, Norman, Spanish and Arab influences. Outstanding examples include the cathedral (1169-1185), Palatine Chapel (1140), the church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (1132). Inland cruisers can visit Monreale, with its beautiful Norman cathedral containing extraordinary mosaics, or the splendid Villa Igeia.

Palermo cruise terminal