Palermo : Italy
Palermo (Palermo in Italian) (Palermu or Palemmu in Sicilian) (population 680,000) is the principal city and administrative seat of the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy as well as the capital of the Province of Palermo
History
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 Zz, but Greeks called it Panormus, meaning all-port, because of its fine natural harbour. Palermo is widely considered to be the most conquered city in the world, as the following history will show.
Palermo remained a Phoenician city until the First Punic War (264-241 BC), when Sicily fell under Roman rule. The Roman period was one of comparative calm, Palermo coming under the provincial administration in Syracuse. When the Roman Empire was split, Sicily and Palermo came under the rule of the Eastern Byzantine Empire.
This lasted until the 9th century, when Muslim forces from north Africa invaded, taking Palermo in 831 and all of Sicily by 965. The Muslim rulers moved Sicily’s capital to Palermo where it has been ever since. In the Muslim period Palermo was a major city of trade, culture and learning, with (it is said) more than 300 mosques. The city was renowned throughout the Muslim world. It was a period of prosperity and tolerance, as Christians and Jews were allowed to live in peace.
