Identity: eight districts, Region, Saint Rosalia
A municipality divided into eight districts with elected councils, seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the regional government, capital of the Metropolitan City. Sicilian is spoken everywhere alongside Italian. Patron Saint Rosalia: the Festino on 14–15 July, the Acchianata up Monte Pellegrino on 4 September.
Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays
Eight districts
The Comune di Palermo is organised in eight circoscrizioni, each with a council and president elected together with the mayor and with decentralised offices for registry and services: the 1st is the historic centre, the 2nd and 3rd the south (Brancaccio-Ciaculli, Settecannoli, Oreto-Stazione, Villagrazia-Falsomiele), the 4th the west (Cuba-Calatafimi, Santa Rosalia-Montegrappa, Altarello, Mezzomonreale-Villa Tasca, Boccadifalco), the 5th the north-west (Zisa, Noce, Uditore-Passo di Rigano, Borgo Nuovo), the 6th the north (San Giovanni Apostolo, Resuttana-San Lorenzo), the 7th the northern coast (Tommaso Natale-Sferracavallo, Partanna-Mondello, Arenella-Vergine Maria, Pallavicino), the 8th the modern centre (Politeama, Libertà, Montepellegrino, Malaspina-Palagonia). The town hall is Palazzo delle Aquile, in Piazza Pretoria.
Region and Metropolitan City
Palermo is the capital of the Sicilian Region, a region with special statute and wide legislative powers: the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS), the regional parliament, sits at Palazzo dei Normanni; the Presidency of the Region at Palazzo d'Orléans, next door. The Metropolitan City of Palermo, set up by the Region in 2015 in place of the province, includes 82 municipalities. The city also hosts the Court of Appeal, the Prefecture and the regional directorates of state bodies.
Languages
Sicilian is a Romance language promoted by the Region in schools under a 2011 law; in Palermo it is spoken by all social classes alongside Italian, with a recognisable city variety. The foreign community, concentrated in the historic centre (Ballarò) and in Brancaccio, is among the most varied in the South: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Romania, Tunisia, Morocco, with their own markets and places of worship.
Saint Rosalia and civic memory
Saint Rosalia, a twelfth-century hermit whose relics were found on Monte Pellegrino in 1624 and carried in procession during the plague, has been the patron since 1625. The Festino, the city's feast, culminates on the evening of 14 July with the triumphal float travelling along the Cassaro from the Cathedral to the Foro Italico and fireworks over the sea, and on 15 July with the procession of the relics; 2024 marked the 400th Festino. On 4 September the Acchianata is repeated, the night-time climb on foot to the sanctuary on Monte Pellegrino. Palermo is also the city of the Vucciria and the Arab-style markets, of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino (the airport bears their names) and of an anti-mafia memory present in schools and squares.
Data
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Reviewed: 10/20/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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