2 Best Sights in Palermo and Western Sicily, Sicily

The lovely Benedictine cloister of the abbey adjacent to the Duomo was built at the same time as the church but enlarged in the 14th century. The enclosure is surrounded by 216 intricately carved double columns, every other one decorated in a unique glass mosaic pattern. Afterward, don't forget to walk behind the cloister to the belvedere, with stunning panoramic views over the Conca d'Oro (Golden Conch) plain toward Palermo. If you wish to visit, reserve a tour online at least a week in advance.

This sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary and local saints is one of Sicily's most revered religious sites, visited by devout pilgrims from all over the country. The complex was originally built for the Carmelite religious order in 1332, and its most treasured object is the life-size statue of the Madonna di Trapani, serenely smiling and holding the infant Jesus, thought to be the work of Nino Pisano or his studio. The importance of the sanctuary to the local fishing community is shown in the chapel dedicated to sailors, displaying scallop-shell motifs over every window as well as over the altar itself, and in one chapel dedicated to fishermen, dating from the 16th century. A separate room holds numerous ex-voto paintings of sailing vessels beset by stormy waters.