Photo: Julian Lupyan (CC0)
Norman kings built here with Arab craftsmen and Byzantine mosaicists, and the Cappella Palatina holds a Latin plan, Greek mosaics and an Islamic muqarnas ceiling in a single room. That fusion is a UNESCO listing. Above it lies a heavy Baroque city — Serpotta's stucco in the oratories, the Quattro Canti, the markets — and beneath that the scars of 1943.
46 narrations, yours to keep — no subscription, no expiry. Works offline once downloaded, and if it isn’t for you we’ll refund it.
Going somewhere with no signal? Download on wi-fi before you set off — keep the screen open while it saves — then add it to your home screen so you can find it again. It works in airplane mode, with no roaming charges. Show me how to save it →
Every claim in this tour traces back to a named source — excavation records, the heritage authority for the site, and the primary texts themselves. Nothing is copied from other guidebooks, and anything we can't source doesn't make the recording.
Each stop is built from OpenStreetMap · 314 features in this old town (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata · 128 cross-referenced entries (peer-reviewed structured records), the heritage authority below, and the primary historical texts where they exist.
Cross-referenced against Modern excavation publications · academic peer-review.
Every sentence is checked against those sources before it is recorded. If a claim can't be traced, it doesn't make the audio.
Every tour is reviewed by a person before it goes on sale. Stop selection, the route and anything ambiguous come back to the editor for a decision, and those questions routinely send a stop back for another accuracy pass. Nothing publishes on a machine’s say-so.
Spot anything inaccurate? Email [email protected] — fixed in the next pass.
The Palatine Chapel with its Latin plan, Greek mosaics and Islamic ceiling; the cathedral that changed hands and styles repeatedly; and the oldest royal residence in Europe.
The crossroads that divides Palermo into quarters, the Pretoria fountain carved in Florence and shipped here, and Serpotta's stucco oratories.
The Arab quarter by the sea, Palazzo Abatellis and its Triumph of Death, the Ballarò and Capo markets, and the Zisa.
A Latin basilica plan, Byzantine mosaics in Greek, and an Islamic muqarnas ceiling — three traditions in one room, built for Roger II.
Raised on Punic foundations, rebuilt by the emirs and then the Norman kings. It is the oldest royal residence in Europe and still seats Sicily's parliament.
Founded on a church that had been a mosque, then rebuilt across six centuries — the result reads as an anthology of every style that passed through.
The Baroque crossroads where two streets cut the old city into four quarters, each corner a curved façade of fountains, saints and Spanish kings.
Carved in Florence for a private garden, sold to Palermo, and reassembled here. The nudes scandalised the neighbouring convent enough to earn it a nickname.
Three red domes on a plain stone box beside the Martorana — the most stripped-back and the most photographed of the Norman churches.
Tap "Start Walking Tour" and allow location access. The map shows all 46 narration points.
Follow the suggested route or explore freely. GPS tracks your position. Reach a site and the narration plays automatically.
Each site has its own narration — history, architecture, and the layers underneath. 46 narration points across the Cassaro, the Baroque city and La Kalsa.
Narrations play when you reach each site. No buttons, no track numbers. Walk naturally — the stories find you.
Premium narration that sounds like a documentary. Warm and knowledgeable, not a textbook reading.
Every narration is drafted, cross-checked against primary sources, then passed through a second editorial pass that strips unsupported claims. Dates, names, and citations verified.
See all narration points on the map. Tap any point to hear it early or replay it later.
Every significant point across the old city. The Norman monuments get deep dives; the oratories, markets and palaces get focused stories.
Spend an hour or a full day. Skip sites, revisit favourites, take breaks. The tour adapts to you.
Three ways, all built in:
The map-tap option means you can stand anywhere — even at home before you travel — and play any narration. GPS just makes it hands-free while you’re actually walking the site.
No. Use the “Download for offline” button before you go, and the entire tour — audio, maps, narration text — works without any data connection. Tap-to-play and the map both work fully offline. GPS itself doesn’t need data; only the download does.
Add the icon first, then download from the icon. On iPhone a guide downloaded in Safari cannot be seen by the home screen icon, so downloading first means downloading the whole thing twice.
Putting it on your home screen — iPhone or iPad (Safari):
On Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Add to Home screen (some phones say Install app), then confirm. On Android either order works.
If you opened this link from inside Instagram, Facebook or Gmail, you are in that app’s built-in browser. It cannot add anything to your home screen, and a guide downloaded there is thrown away when the app closes. Open the link in Safari or Chrome first.
Two backstops. First, the map shows every site — just tap the marker for the place in front of you. Second, you can manually queue any narration even when GPS is off. The platform never assumes GPS works; it’s the convenience layer, not the gate.
The audio runs ~103 minutes total, but you walk at your own pace. 46 narration points across the site. Most visitors take 2–4 hours; some spread it over multiple visits. Once you buy it, it’s yours — there’s no expiry and no subscription. Come back next year if you like; the link in your receipt always works.
One purchase covers one device session. Most couples share earbuds and use a single phone — the audio is paced for that. If you want everyone listening on their own device, each person needs their own purchase. We do not gate sharing aggressively; we trust visitors to do the right thing.
Full refund if you never trigger a single narration on-site. Partial refund based on how far you got. See the refund policy for specifics.