Castle of Zisa

The Zisa Castle (from Al-Azizah or “the splendid”) dates back to the 12th century and is one of the best testimonies of the Arab-Norman domination in Sicily. Built as a summer residence out of town for the leisure of the king, it was built by the Normans on the model of the rich residences of their Arab predecessors.

Today Zisa hosts the Islamic Art Museum, which collects works from Sicily and the Mediterranean area produced between the 9th and 12th centuries. Among these very interesting is a Christian inscription in four languages: Hebrew, Latin, Byzantine and Arabic greek, testimony to the multiethnicity of Palermo.