Items | Arabs, Normans and Mafia Self Guided Tour of Palermo
Arabs, Normans and Mafia Self Guided Tour of Palermo
(1) Reviews
Palermo
Important Information
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Service animals allowed
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Public transportation options are available nearby
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Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
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Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
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If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
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This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
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Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
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Palermo's cathedral started as a church, became an Arab mosque, then returned to a cathedral — and a Quranic verse carved into one of its columns survived the Inquisition untouched. This self-guided audio walking tour takes you along the Cassaro, one of Europe's oldest streets, from the Teatro Massimo opera house to the sea. You'll hear how a Caravaggio was stolen by the Mafia and possibly eaten by pigs, taste street food with thousand-year-old Arab roots, and stand inside a chapel where three civilisations built a single ceiling together. Start whenever suits you, pause for markets and sfincione, resume when you're ready — no group, no schedule. Works offline.
Over 20,000 travelers have u...
Highlights
From 2 hours to 4 hours
Offered in German (Deutsch) & 8 Others
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 2 hours to 4 hours
Offered in German (Deutsch) & 8 Others
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
100% Satisfaction Guarantee: If you don’t love the tour, write to us for a full refund.
1-year access to audio on iOS & Android. Listen to the tour anytime, as many times as you like
Audio and written guide included
Offline access to the tour (no internet connection needed) once tour is downloaded
Images to identify stops and in app interactive map for navigation
Any physical devices or headphones
Human tour guide at location
Meeting Points
Departure
Teatro Massimo
This is a self-guided audio tour on our self-guided tour app. To activate the tour, check your email for instructions from us sent right after booking. Can’t find it? Search for our company in your email inbox and spam folder. OR contact us via support.
Find the step where skeptics still trip, cursed by a nun whose tomb was disturbed during construction.
2
Capo Street Market
Taste rice balls born from Arab rule in lanes that haven't changed their layout in a thousand years.
3
Grotta dei Beati Paoli
Stand above tunnels where a secret society may have met — and where the Mafia later claimed its origin story.
4
Palermo Cathedral
Spot the Quranic verse carved into a column that somehow survived the Spanish Inquisition untouched.
5
Villa Bonanno
Look up at the figures holding the gate and notice what's been done to their limbs.
6
Norman Palace
Step inside a chapel where three civilisations built a single ceiling — and none agreed on whose king it honoured.
7
No Mafia Memorial
Trace the line from two assassinated prosecutors to the civic uprising that reopened an opera house.
8
Quattro Canti
Notice how a local architect quietly rearranged the Spanish king's position on each facade — and why it mattered.
9
Piazza Pretoria
Count the nude statues a sculptor shipped across the sea in sixty-nine crates — then hear what the nuns did about them.
10
Piazza Bellini
Learn why every admiral in every navy carries a title invented by a Greek refugee serving a Norman king here.
11
La Vucciria
Order your spleen sandwich "married" or "bachelor" — and hear how Jewish butchers created the tradition centuries ago.
12
Chiesa di San Domenico
Pause at the tomb of the prosecutor whose murder changed Palermo more than any conqueror did.
13
Oratorio del Santissimo Rosario in San Domenico
Search the stucco for a hidden lizard — the artist's signature pun on his own name.
14
Oratorio di San Lorenzo
See the empty space above the altar where a Caravaggio hung until the Mafia took it — and no two informants agree on what happened next.
15
Palazzo Chiaromonte Steri
Read prayers scratched into prison walls with blood by Inquisition captives going blind in the dark.
16
Muro delle Cattive
Walk the elevated promenade reserved for widows — whose mourning clothes may have signalled something else entirely.
17
Porta Felice
Face the sea where a boy supposedly dove beneath Sicily and never came back — because the island needed holding up.
Arabs, Normans and Mafia Self Guided Tour of Palermo
(1) Reviews
Palermo
About
Palermo's cathedral started as a church, became an Arab mosque, then returned to a cathedral — and a Quranic verse carved into one of its columns survived the Inquisition untouched. This self-guided audio walking tour takes you along the Cassaro, one of Europe's oldest streets, from the Teatro Massimo opera house to the sea. You'll hear how a Caravaggio was stolen by the Mafia and possibly eaten by pigs, taste street food with thousand-year-old Arab roots, and stand inside a chapel where three civilisations built a single ceiling together. Start whenever suits you, pause for markets and sfincione, resume when you're ready — no group, no schedule. Works offline.
Over 20,000 travelers have u...
Highlights
From 2 hours to 4 hours
Offered in German (Deutsch) & 8 Others
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 2 hours to 4 hours
Offered in German (Deutsch) & 8 Others
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
100% Satisfaction Guarantee: If you don’t love the tour, write to us for a full refund.
1-year access to audio on iOS & Android. Listen to the tour anytime, as many times as you like
Audio and written guide included
Offline access to the tour (no internet connection needed) once tour is downloaded
Images to identify stops and in app interactive map for navigation
Any physical devices or headphones
Human tour guide at location
Meeting Points
Departure
Teatro Massimo
This is a self-guided audio tour on our self-guided tour app. To activate the tour, check your email for instructions from us sent right after booking. Can’t find it? Search for our company in your email inbox and spam folder. OR contact us via support.