Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri

Fabulous museum and university complex in an ancient palace. The history of this place is amazing, and included an era as the seat of the Italian Inquisition. The prison areas are so well preserved that the drawings and writings of the prisoners are still all across the walls! The guide I had was fantastic, giving an Italian and an English narrative all throughout. All of the staff were wonderful, many of them university students. Great souvenir shop also!

Probably the best value for money activity we did on our short trip to Palermo. A guided visit to the palace and prisons for only 8 euros per person. Our guide was fantastic, so knowledgeable and did the tour in both Italian and English. Incredibly fascinating history of the palace and prisons done in a very respectful manner. Our tour group was pretty small so we had lots of time to look at everything. It is fantastically maintained and a lot of work has clearly gone into preserving everything for public viewing and education.

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.

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.

The graffiti made by the prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition is the star of the show here. If you're in Palermo, make sure you don't miss it.

This museum is well worth the visit. The guided tour is informative and gives you a thorough history of the palace. Our tour guide, Michela, was very knowledgeable and helpful during the visit. We enjoyed her insights!