Duomo Square

At the base of the Cathedral steps, lies Piazza Duomo. Drenched in sunshine, shaded by palm trees and accompanied by the customary bar, with tables spreading into the centre of the piazza, it is an ideal spot to rest weary feet or simply soak up the atmosphere, and the sun.

Various palaces of both Church and State stand at the perimeter of the square. The Seventeenth Century Palazzo Vescovile (the Bishop's palace), decorated and designed in the style of a nobleman's residence. Palazzo Piraino, dating from the Sixteen Century with its lovely portal that opens onto an enclosed courtyard.

The former Monastery of Saint Catherine, now the Town Hall, closes the perimeter of the square; only an archway remains of the 12th -13th Century original monastery; the rest of the building was restored in the Seventeen Hundreds in the style fashionable for the nobility of the day. Little remains now of a little church which was once annexed to the original monastery.