Santa Caterina, Palermo

Santa Caterina, Palermo tickets: which one to buy

The ticket here covers more than the church, and that is the reason to buy it. Since the complex reopened to visitors, the Dominican monastery behind the church has been shown as well, including the cloister, the cells, the cisterns and a roof terrace looking over the domes of the old city. The same ticket, in some versions, includes a pastry made to the recipes the nuns used, sold at a counter by the entrance;

the cakes are the reason many locals come. The church sits on Piazza Bellini, which also holds two of the oldest buildings in Palermo, the little red-domed San Cataldo and the Norman church known as the Martorana, both worth their separate small tickets. Any walking tour of the centre covers all three plus the fountain and the crossroads next door. Go on your own if you prefer, since everything is within fifty metres.

Visiting Santa Caterina, Palermo: what to see

A wealthy widow endowed a Dominican convent here in 1310, on the site of a palace that had belonged to the admiral of the Norman kings. The church was enlarged from 1566 and finished towards the end of that century, then decorated over the following two hundred years, which is where its character comes from. Almost every surface inside is covered in inlaid marble of different colours cut into scrolls, birds, fruit and figures, a Sicilian technique taken here to an extreme, with stucco sculpture above and frescoed vaults over all of it.

The effect is overwhelming rather than elegant and is one of the essential sights of Palermo. The convent behind it operated as an enclosed community until the late twentieth century, and the rooms, the grilles through which the nuns spoke to visitors and the revolving cupboards through which goods passed are all preserved. The terrace above gives a rooftop view that is hard to get elsewhere in the centre. A statue of Saint Catherine in white marble stands over the main altar and is the one restrained thing in the building.

Santa Caterina, Palermo opening hours and the best time to go

The complex opens through the day and closes earlier in winter. Mornings are best for the marble, which needs light, and late afternoon for the terrace, when the sun is off the domes and the heat has gone. Palermo in summer is very hot and the centre is shaded only in the narrow streets; May, June, September and October are the good months. The square outside is busy in the evening and the fountain beside it is floodlit.

Palermo's Sunday morning is surprisingly quiet, with markets closed and the churches in use. The feast of the city's patron in mid-July fills the whole centre for several days. Combine this with the Norman church next door before the tour groups arrive at about ten. Allow an hour for the church and monastery together, plus whatever the pastry counter costs you in time. The cakes sold at the counter follow convent recipes and sell out by the middle of the afternoon.