The biggest opera house in Italy, the magnificent neoclassical Teatro Massimo is a must-see. Its historical importance aside, fans of The Godfather will recognise the mustard-yellow theatre from the final acts of the trilogy. Throughout the summer season, jazz concerts, cinema and dance recitals get booked up well in advance, so if you want to ogle the ornate, gilded interior, get ahead and book before your trip.

If you pay to enter one church in Sicily, it should be this beauty. Marvel at the baroque-meets-rococo interiors and vaulted frescoes and ogle every corner dripping with stucco and intricately carved wood. In 2017, when the last Dominican monks moved out, the cloisters opened to the public for the first time in the church's 700-year history. The full ticket gives you access to the convent's rooftop terrace, with spectacular views over piazzas Bellini and Pretoria and the city beyond. Reward yourself with a cannoli at the secret bakery sequestered within the cloisters afterwards.

History buffs, this one's for you. Also known as Palazzo dei Normanni, this vast palace belonged to the kings of Sicily during the Norman rule, making it the oldest private residence in Europe. Construction is actually thought to have started in the ninth century during Islamic rule, and typical Arabic vaults are still present in the basement. Inside, you'll find the Palatine Chapel, a Unesco World Heritage site, and one of the best examples of the city's unique convergence of art and architecture.

Spread across 10 hectares of the central Kalsa district of Palermo, the University of Palermo's 1779-opened Botanical Gardens are - like much of the city's architecture - an archive of the many centuries of colonising influences that have played out in Sicily. Many of the original neoclassical greenhouses are still intact and in use. Weave between the wacky cacti and through sun-dappled citrus groves to spy the majestic Ficus magnolioides. The largest tree in Palermo and the symbol of the garden, it was shipped from Australia as a sapling in 1845.