GRAND TASTE PALERMO - Artisan Food & History Walking Tour

Our accredited guide will meet you right outside the Massimo Theater for an introduction and outline of the tour you are about to experience.

We will stroll through the stalls and learn about the different varieties of seasonal and local specialties while tasting some street food and absorbing the energy of an ancient food market. The atmosphere is great, even if you choose not to buy anything.

While stopping to taste another local specialty, here we will tell you the tale of how this square got its name from a secretive sect thought to have existed in medieval Sicily, allegedly formed to oppose both the church and the state, defending the commoners from infringements posed by the regime. How they came to be seen as a proto-manifestation of the Mafia, and why Cosa Nostra likes to trace its origin to the sect.

Independent visit to the outstanding Palermo's Cathedral (UNESCO), a prime example of Sicily's unique Arab-Norman architectural style. Another chance to taste some local specialty, and a quick restroom stop.

Tucked away in a side street in old Palermo, right from the moment you walk in, you will get a glimpse of one of the most intricate, magnificent, interesting, intense showcase of frescos and sculptures lavishly decorated in high baroque style.

Considered by many, an unforgettable over the top remarkable building for its extraordinary craftsmanship and tastefulness with a wow factor. Definitely a must-see while in Palermo, and definitely worth a second visit to see it again from different angles.

An authentic doorway into the past. You will instantly feel as if you've been transported into a noisy medieval market of the 9th-century ad. Ballarò Market is the biggest, the oldest, the funniest and most entertaining open-air market of all, amid with crazy jumble of stalls with lots of noisy spruiking by the vendors. This is the place to see Sicilian life at its best.

We will stop by to admire and contemplate the beautifully sculptured facades and artwork of Four Corners (Quattro Canti) with its 4 saints, 4 kings, 4 seasons, 4 fountains, 4 rivers, 4 districts. Its octagonal shapes, fashionable in the 17th Century, illuminated by the sun has consequently renamed it the "Theatre of the Sun", creating an historic and compelling meeting point between the two main streets in the old city center, Via Maqueda, and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. It's impossible not to get to this spot.

We will walk across Piazza Pretoria and its famous 'Fountain of Shame'. A spectacular grand fountain surrounded by gorgeously detailed nudes sculpted in Carrara marble, placed in an intimate and relatively small square, will definitely take you by surprise.

Here you will admire the exterior of two magnificent Churches in total contrast for style with each other, both part of the (UNESCO) Arab-Norman Heritage Sites. The Church of Saint Mary of the Admiral, or "La Martorana", along with the small Church of San Cataldo. Both elevated above road level dominates Bellini Square and frequently used as monumental images of Palermo‘s architecture patrimony.

We will pass by Palazzo Valguarnera Gangi, one of the most iconic private buildings of the 18th century in the city designed in the Baroque style. All the splendor of its original decor is still carefully preserved to every little detail, including the most memorable ballroom, setting for Luchino Visconti's movie 'The Leopard' in 1963.

To complete the experience, we will say goodbye with one last Grand Taste in a quaint little square tucked away from the crowd, right outside the beautiful Church of St. Francis of Assisi.