Piazza Politeama
Piazza Politeama features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Palermo. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Palermo Palermo guide
About Piazza Politeama
The elegant northern gateway of Palermo, centred on the grand neoclassical Teatro Politeama and marking the division between the historic Arab-Norman city and the 19th-century new town.
Piazza Politeama is the broad, elegant square at the northern end of Via Maqueda that functions as the gateway between old and new Palermo. At its centre stands the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, built between 1867 and 1891 in a theatrical neoclassical style with a bronze quadriga on its roof. The square is the meeting point of the city's modern boulevards and its historic arteries, and its pavement cafés and the statue of Ruggero Settimo overlooking the action make it the social hub of northern Palermo. The street running north from the piazza, Via della Libertà, was created in the late 19th century as Palermo's grand Haussmannian boulevard, lined with Art Nouveau palaces and villas built during the belle époque of Sicilian prosperity. The Galleria d'Arte Moderna, one of the finest collections of 19th and early 20th-century Sicilian painting and sculpture, is housed in a former convent just off the square.
Did you know? The Teatro Politeama was originally designed to also host horse races inside its circular arena, before being converted to a concert hall, it functioned as a multi-purpose entertainment venue.
How long is a visit to Piazza Politeama?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Piazza Politeama. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Piazza Politeama worth your time?
Piazza Politeama is among the 22 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Palermo, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Palermo
Hear the story of Piazza Politeama
Preview the Palermo tour free in the Gingerguide app.