Places to see in Palermo

The Norman kings' palace, and inside it the Cappella Palatina — a chapel where Byzantine mosaic, Arab woodwork and Norman building meet in one room, which is the whole argument for Sicily in a single space. Still the seat of the regional assembly, so parts close without notice. Book ahead.

Palermo's oldest and loudest street market, running through the Albergheria — produce, fish, and the fried street food the city is known for, shouted rather than sold. Mornings are the real thing; by evening part of it turns into somewhere to drink. Go hungry.

A street market threading the Capo quarter, less visited than Ballarò and just as loud — fish, offal, fruit and fried things eaten standing. Mornings, and closed by early afternoon.

Corridors of some eight thousand mummified bodies, clothed and displayed upright, from the sixteenth century to the 1920s. Genuinely unsettling and not suitable for everyone or for young children — worth deciding before you are standing in it. An hour, and a short bus ride from the centre.

The largest opera house in Italy, closed for twenty-three years and reopened in 1997, with guided tours by day when nothing is being staged. The steps outside are where the last scene of The Godfather Part III was filmed, which is why people photograph them.

Open since 1834 opposite the church it is named for, serving the street food Palermo is built on — pane con la milza, panelle, arancine — from a marble counter at the front.

The baroque crossroads where the two main streets meet, each of the four curved corners carved in tiers with a season, a king and a patron saint. Traffic runs through it constantly. Five minutes of looking up, and the point from which the old quarters are easiest to navigate.