Editing Palermo (section)

=== City walls ===
{{See also|it:Mura_di_Palermo}}
[[File:MuraPunichePalermo.JPG|thumb|[[Phoenicia]]n wall in via degli Schioppettieri]]
[[File:Palermo palazzo normanni.jpg|thumb|The [[Palazzo dei Normanni]]]]

Palermo had two rings of [[city wall]]s, many parts of which still survive.<ref>Pezzini Elena. Un tratto della cinta muraria della città di Palermo. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Moyen-Age, tome 110, n°2. 1998. pp. 719–771.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/mefr.1998.3654</ref> The first ring surrounded the ancient core of the Phoenician city, the ''Palaeopolis'' or ''Paleapolis'' (in the area east of Porta Nuova) and the ''Neapolis''. Via Vittorio Emanuele was the main road east–west through this early walled city. The eastern edge of the walled city was on Via Roma and the ancient port in the vicinity of Piazza Marina. The wall circuit was approximately Porto Nuovo, Corso Alberti, Piazza Peranni, Via Isodoro, Via Candela, Via Venezia, Via Roma, Piazza Paninni, Via Biscottari, Via Del Bastione, [[Palazzo dei Normanni]] and back to Porto Nuovo.

The walls followed the course of the two rivers that surround the city, the Kemonia and the Papireto, creating a natural moat and improving the military security of the city. During the Roman era, they were certainly implemented, as deducible from the subsequent account of Procopius of Caesarea about the capture of Palermo.

In the medieval period the city was expanded with a second wall. Via Vittorio Emanuele continued to be the main road east–west through the walled city. The west gate was still Porta Nuova, the walls continued to Corso Alberti, to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Orlando where it turned east along Via Volturno to Piazza Verdi and along the line of Via Cavour. At this northeast corner the [[Castello a Mare]] protected the port at La Cala. A huge chain was used to block La Cala with the other end at [[Santa Maria della Catena, Palermo|Santa Maria della Catena]] (St Mary of the Chain). The sea-side wall was along the western side of Foro Italico Umberto. The wall turns west along the northern side of Via Abramo Lincoln, continues along Corso Tukory. The wall turns north approximately on Via Benedetto, to [[Palazzo dei Normanni]] and back to Porta Nuova.<ref>Palermo – City Guide by Adriana Chirco, 1998, Dario Flaccovio Editore.</ref>

Several gates in the city wall survive.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albumMap?uname=107794929208535064679&aid=5726470220811767345&locked=true#map |title=Picasa Web Albums – Kevin Flude – Palermo City |date=1 April 2012 |access-date=12 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904035935/https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albumMap?uname=107794929208535064679&aid=5726470220811767345&locked=true#map |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>