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Palermo was founded by the Phoenicians and called Panoramos. It became a Carthaginian base on the island of Sicily until it was taken by the Romans back in 254 B.C. It was taken by the Byzantines in 353 when the Byzantine general Belisariius invaded the island and took it from the Ostrogoths. The next change of hands occurred in 830 when the Saracens captured the city for a couple of hundred years. In 1072 the most significant change of hands in the city's history occurred when the Normans arrived. They left the most indelible mark on the city turning it into the greatest city in Europe within a few hundred years. It was known for its wealth and learning and much of the historic treasures in the city hail from this period. The reign of the Normans lasted until 1194 when it fell into the hands of the Hohenstaufens and then passed to the house Anjou in 1266 as did most of the major cities in the south of Italy including Naples. The brief rule of the Anjou was ended by the famous rising, known as the Sicilian Vespers, in 1282. Palermo went under Aragonese and Spanish rule and it was during this period that the current city was given its form. The city passed to the Bourbons in the 18th century until it freed to unite with the new italy in 1860. |