Sign In »
Register Now!
Help
Palermo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Palermo (disambiguation).
| Palermo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Comune — | |||
| Comune di Palermo | |||
 A collage of Palermo | |||
| |||
  Palermo Location of Palermo in Italy | |||
Coordinates:  38°07′N 13°22′E | |||
| Country | Italy | ||
| Region | Sicily | ||
| Province | Palermo (PA) | ||
| Founded | 736 BC | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Luisa Latella (Special Commissioner) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 158.9 km2 (61.4 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 14 m (46 ft) | ||
| Population (30 April 2009) | |||
| • Total | 657,935 | ||
| • Density | 4,140.6/km2 (10,724/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym | Palermitani | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 90100 | ||
| Dialing code | 091 | ||
| Patron saint | Saint Rosalia | ||
| Saint day | 15 July | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
listen), Sicilian: Palermu, Latin: Panormus, from Greek: Πάνορμος, Panormos, Arabic: بَلَرْم, Balarm; Phoenician: זִיז, Ziz) is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. 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 located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.The city was founded by the Phoenicians, but named by the Ancient Greeks as Panormus meaning 'always fit for landing in.' Palermo became part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. From 827 to 1071 it was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when it first became a capital. Following the Norman reconquest, Palermo became capital of a new kingdom (from 1130 to 1816), the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually it would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.
The population of the 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 650,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Palermitans or, poetically, panormiti. The languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language and the Sicilian language, in its Palermitan variation.
Palermo is Sicily's cultural, economic and touristic capital. It is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food. Numerous tourists are attracted to the city for its good Mediterranean weather, its renowned gastronomy and restaurants, its Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque churches, palaces and buildings, and its nightlife and music.[1] Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center: the main industrial sectors include tourism, services, commerce and agriculture.[2] Palermo currently has an international airport, and a significant underground economy.[citation needed] In fact, for cultural, artistic and economic reasons, Palermo was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. The city is also going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area.[3]
Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitan culture. The patron saint of the city is Saint Rosalia. Her feast day on July 15 is perhaps the biggest social event in the city. The area attracts significant numbers of tourists each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit, vegetable and fish market at the heart of Palermo, known as the Vucciria.[4]
Climate
Palermo experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). Winters are mild and wet, while Summers are warm to hot, and dry. Palermo is one of the warmest cities in Europe (mainly due to its warm nights), with an average annual ambient air temperature of 18.5 °C (65.3 °F). It receives approximately 2,530 hours of sunshine per year. Snow is rare but not impossible. In the late 40's and in the early 2000 it snowed as far as the port eight times. More often snow stopped on the edge of the city.
| [hide]Climate data for Palermo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.1 (59.2) | 16.1 (61.0) | 18.4 (65.1) | 21.8 (71.2) | 25.1 (77.2) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.8 (83.8) | 26.6 (79.9) | 22.9 (73.2) | 19.3 (66.7) | 16.0 (60.8) | 21.1 (70.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.5 (52.7) | 12.1 (53.8) | 13.2 (55.8) | 15.7 (60.3) | 18.9 (66.0) | 22.4 (72.3) | 25.6 (78.1) | 26.2 (79.2) | 24.1 (75.4) | 20.4 (68.7) | 16.8 (62.2) | 13.3 (55.9) | 18.3 (64.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) | 9.1 (48.4) | 10.9 (51.6) | 12.9 (55.2) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.7 (67.5) | 22.9 (73.2) | 23.6 (74.5) | 21.5 (70.7) | 17.8 (64.0) | 14.3 (57.7) | 10.5 (50.9) | 15.6 (60.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 71.6 (2.819) | 65.4 (2.575) | 59.5 (2.343) | 44.1 (1.736) | 25.5 (1.004) | 12.2 (0.48) | 5.1 (0.201) | 13.3 (0.524) | 41.5 (1.634) | 98.0 (3.858) | 94.3 (3.713) | 80.0 (3.15) | 610.5 (24.035) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 9.7 | 10.0 | 8.7 | 6.1 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 9.4 | 10.8 | 74.3 |
| Source: World Meteorological Organization (UN)[23] | |||||||||||||
Main sights
Panoramic view of Palermo from Monte Pellegrino Palermo has a large architectural heritage and is notable for its many Norman buildings.uploads/monthly_02_2012/post-30656-0-89702100-1330025949_thumb.gifuploads/monthly_02_2012/post-30656-0-05776500-1330025954_thumb.gif
uploads/monthly_02_2012/post-30656-0-48826300-1330026033_thumb.gif
Attached thumbnail(s)
This post has been edited by Ian Williams: 23 February 2012 - 19:40
