Palermo is the principal city and administrative seat of the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy as well as the capital of the Province of Palermo. Inhabitants of Palermo in Italian are referred to as Palermitani or poetically Panormiti.
Palermo was founded in the 8th century BC by Phoenician tradesmen around a natural harbour on the north-western coast of Sicily. The Phoenician name for the city may have been Zîz, but Greeks called it Panormus, meaning all-port, because of its fine natural harbour. It should be noted however that the city was never a Greek city-state, but was later part of the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire. Palermo is widely considered to be one of the most conquered city in the world.
Palermo has a noteworthy architectural heritage and is notable for its many Norman building.
The Cathedral of Palermo has a heliometer (solar "observatory") of 1690, one of a number built in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. The device itself is quite simple: a tiny hole in one of the minor domes acts as Pinhole camera, projecting an image of the sun onto the floor at solar noon (12:00 in winter, 13:00 in summer).
There is a bronze line, la Meridiana on the floor, running precisely N/S. The ends of the line mark the positions as at the summer and winter solstices; signs of the zodiac show the various other dates throughout the year.
first round of the 2007-2008 season. The chairman is Palermo has its own football team, U.S. Città di Palermo, playing in Italian Serie A and in UEFA CupMaurizio Zamparini and the coach is Stefano Colantuono (appointed on September 15, 2007).
Palermo International Airport, also known as Falcone-Borsellino Airport, Punta Raisi Airport: dedicated to Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two anti-mafia judges killed by the mafia in early 1990s, is located 32 km (19 miles) west of Palermo (Punta Raisi). Buses depart roughly every 30 minutes from the central railway station to the airport
The airport can also be reached by trains departing from Centrale, Notarbartolo and Francia stations.