Palermo

(pah-lur'mo,) [anc. Panormus,] a handsome city of Sicily, of which island it is the cap., at its N.W. extremity, in N. Lat. 38° 8' 2", E. Lon. 130° 22′ 2". It is built in amphitheatrical form, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and contains many fine churches and other edifices. P. has some textile and other manu fs., carries on an active foreign commerce, and is largely interested in the tunny fishery. The Cart hag in i ans made of P. a naval station, 480 B. c.; as, later, also did the Romans after taking it in 254 B. c. It subsequently pa ed into the hands of the Goths, the Saracens, and the Normans, and in 1282 it was the spot where occurred the ma acre known in history as The Sicilian Vespers. Bet. 1806 and 1814, it was the seat of the court, owing to the occupation of Naples by the French, and in May, 1860, surrendered to the liberating army of Garibaldi. Pop. 167,625. [s. 678]