PALERMO (the ancient Panormus), the capital of the island of Sicily and the second city of the united kingdom of the Two Sicilies, is situated on a deep bay on the northern coast of Sicily, in 38' 9' N. lat., 13* 22' E. long., in a fine and fertile plain between two moun tain ridges and the sea, and has about 180,000 inhabitants. The town is an oblong parallelogram, surrounded by walls furnished with bastions. It is rather more than four miles in circumference, the suburbs not included. A fine street, called 11 Cassaro, a corruption of the Ambits word Abkasr, the palace,' runs through its length from the sea to the royal palace, which is at the inland extremity of the town, and is crossed at right angles towards its middle by another handsome street, called Strada Macqneda. The square before the royal palace is adorned with a bronze statue of Philip IV. of Spain. Another smaller square, in the centre of the town, between the palace of the senate and the university, is decorated with a curious fountain enriched with statues and figures of various animals, which spout the water into several basius. The houses of Palermo are built nearly in the same style as those of Naples, with fiat roofs and terraces, and balconies with Venetian blinds. The royal palace is an old fortified building, with a fine hall, a spacious court, and a splendid chapel, built by King Roger in 1129, and enriched with mosaics. On the summit of the palace is the observatory, from which Father Piazzi discovered the planet Ceres In 1801. The cathedral, a magnificent gothic structure, built about the end of the 12th century, is adorned with marble columns and statues; it contains the mausolea of Roger, the Norman founder of the monarchy, and other exalted personages. The church 'del Geed' is remarkable for its architecture and for the richness of its marble decorations, its paintings, and sculptures. Palermo has many other churches deserving of notice, all rich with marble, paintings, and mosaics. The church of the Capuchins is remark able fur its vaults, in which the bodies of the deceased monks and other persons are seen dried up standing in niches in various attitudes, and with their garments on, some being two or three hundred years old. The university, founded in 1447, has a librnry of 40,000 volumes, a museum of antiquities, with some fine statues and a fine collection of Grieco Sicilian medals. Besides the great hospital, Palermo has several other hospitals, a foundling hospital, a lunatic asylum, and other beneficent institutions. Some of the palaces of the nobility aro remarkable for their architecture. The promenade along the sea-side, called . La
Marina, leads to the fine public gardens called La Flora, with a botanical garden. Palermo has two theatres, several barracks for soldiers, and a castle (Castellarnare), which commands the roads. The harbonr of Palermo is formed by a mole 1300 feet in length, termi nating in a lighthouse and battery. An interior port is reserved for the marine.
Palermo is an archbishop's see, and the residence of the king's lieutenant-general over all Sicily. It has a supreme court of justice for the whole island, a court of appeal for the province, and a com mercial tribunal. There are several monasteries and convents in the city. For public instruction, besides the university, there are at Palermo a college, a ladies college, and a nautical school. There is also a veterinary college.
The neighbourhood of Palermo contains many delightful villas and mansions of the nobility. To the west is the royal mansion and park of Bocca di Falco, beyond which is the handsome Benedictine convent of San Martino, situated on a bill. The church is adorned with paintings and marble, and the convent contains a good library, a museum of Sicilian antiquities, and a collection of medals. The Monte Pellegrino, Mount Ercta of the ancients (a strong position of the Carthagiulans during the first Punic war), Is a broad rocky abrupt mass which rises north-west of Palermo, and forms a striking feature of the landscape. It is now famed among the natives for a grotto or cave, to which Santa Itosalia, a princess of the Norman blood royal, in the bloom of youth retired, in order to lead a contemplative and meth) life. The cave LS become a sanctuary, and every year on the 15th July there Is a solemn procession to this place from Palermo, and the town is Illuminated for several days, This is the most brilliant season for seeing Palermo to advantage, as people flock to it from every part of the Wand.
Panormus was originally a Phoenician and afterwards a Greek colony. It became subject to the Carthaginians, until the first Punic war, when the consuls Aulus Aquilius and C. Cornelius besieged and took the town. It afterwards became a Roman colony.
The Arabian Emirs who ruled Sicily for several centuries made Panormus the capital of the island, and the Norman kings after them fixed their residence there. The Aragoneso kings of Sicily resided at Palermo. When Sicily became united to the kingdom of Naples, Palermo lost its court, but retained the rank of capital of the kingdom of Sicily. The court of Naples however resided here from 1806 to 1814.