Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri

Guided tour on the hour from 9am is only means of access. Friendly guide but echoey rooms and her Italian accent made understanding challenging. The tour felt rushed, and there was no unaccompanied time allowed in the rooms. Would have liked to linger to look at the drawings and words written by those incarcerated during the Inquisition. Instead took lots of photos to look at later, including of text which I'll have to translate.

A surprisingly informative and exciting experience thanks primarily to the witty and nice guide. Palazzo Steri holds a rich albeit grim history, the wonderful architecture in stark contrast to its past. The medieval hall of barons overlooks a wonderful Garibaldi city park with imposing ficus trees. Buy a combo ticket for palazzo Steri and Orto Botanico if you're a history buff - you won't be disappointed.

React! Guttuso painted "La Vucchiria" in 1974 and donated the painting, as a gift, to his friend, the rector of the University of Palermo. Today, they've hijacked the painting and are profiting from it in ways its author never did. They've turned a selfless tribute to the city into a mandatory guided tour that costs 8 euros and is held every hour, lasting 45 minutes. La Vucchiria is the last room. And, what do you not interested in learning about the building's inquisitorial history? A university, a center of universal knowledge and culture, shouldn't be like this. Guttuso's La Vucchiria should be freely accessible to everyone, thus respecting the genesis of the work conceived by its author.

So interesting! 3 main parts: 1. The prisoners' cells from the time of the Inquisition when anyone could find themselves locked up by the Church - possibly because you were of the wrong religion (in the eyes of the Inquisitors) or possibly because your neighbour wanted your house and accused you of wrong-doing so you'd be sent to this prison. The 'graffiti' drawn by the prisoners is at the other end of the spectrum from the gold mosaics of Palazzo Reale and Mondello but it is just as compelling and memorable. 2. Parts of the house which belonged to the Chiaramonte family who were so important they even had their own style of architecture and decoration. 3. An exhibition which is centred around a famous painting of Vucciria market. You have to take a guided tour which is included in the price. It departs on the hour. We were the only ones on our tour. We told our excellent guide - Daniele - that we were learning Italian and he was brilliant at speaking slowly and doing English when it was needed. I'm sure they are used to offering different languages. We bought a combined ticket for 12€ with the Botanical gardens - for that you also get an audio tour and map of the gardens which made them even better.

The Palazzo is a fascinating and unique experience. Once a noble residence, it later served as a prison during the Inquisition. The highlight is the preserved prison cells, where you can still see the original graffiti created by prisoners. The guided tour takes about an hour and is available in English.

I visited Palazzo Steri in Palermo and had a great experience. The guided tour was much more interesting than I expected. Our guide – I think her name was Helena or Eleni (sorry) – was excellent. Her English was very good, and she clearly knew a lot about the history of the place. She explained everything in a very engaging way and answered all the questions with detail and enthusiasm. I definitely recommend visiting if you’re in the area.

This is an impressive museum -- you walk through cells occupied by prisoners of the Inquisition in the 17th-18th centuries. You see the graffiti that they wrote on the walls, text and images, some in English. You really get a sense of what the prisoners were thinking and feeling. All visitors go on a guided tour which was very helpful.

Wonderful tour guides, the graffiti was amazing to see. A lot of history here, I recommend a visit!