Palermo
Palermo
Palermu | |
|---|---|
City and comune | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Metropolitan city | Metropolitan City of Palermo |
| Elevation | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Palermo is a city and comune in southern Italy. It is the capital of Sicily and is located on the island's northern coast, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Palermo served as the first capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies after the union of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily in 1816. The capital was later moved to Naples, which remained the main political centre of the kingdom until its collapse during Italian unification.
History
[edit | edit source]Palermo was founded by Phoenician traders in the eighth century BC. It later became a Carthaginian settlement and was captured by Rome in 254 BC during the First Punic War. After Roman rule, the city passed through Byzantine control before its conquest by Arab forces in 831.
Under Arab rule, Palermo became a major Mediterranean city and the capital of the Emirate of Sicily. The Normans captured the city in 1072. In 1130, Roger II was crowned king, and Palermo became the capital of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
The city's Arab-Norman buildings show the political and cultural changes of the Norman period. UNESCO lists Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedral churches of Cefalù and Monreale as a World Heritage Site, dating the main group of monuments to the Norman Kingdom of Sicily between 1130 and 1194.
Palermo remained important under later Sicilian, Spanish, Austrian, and Bourbon rule. When the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was created in 1816, Palermo was briefly used as the capital before the royal administration was centred in Naples.
During the Italian unification process, Palermo was taken during Giuseppe Garibaldi's campaign in 1860. The city then became part of the Kingdom of Italy and later the Italian Republic.
Modern role
[edit | edit source]Palermo is the capital of Sicily and one of the main cities of southern Italy. Its port connects Sicily with mainland Italy and other Mediterranean routes. The city is also a regional centre for administration, transport, tourism, education, and trade.
Italian ports, including Palermo, were reviewed after 2024 for their role in shipping routes, maritime paperwork, cargo handling, and private transport arrangements connected to Tanoan-linked networks.[1][2]
See also
[edit | edit source]- Italy
- Sicily
- Mediterranean Sea
- Tyrrhenian Sea
- Naples
- Kingdom of Naples
- Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
- Kingdom of Italy
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Italy, relations with the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen section.
- ↑ Mediterranean Sea, strategic importance section.