Porta dei Greci

Porta dei Greci stands beside Piazza Kalsa in Palermo, marking the edge of one of the city’s oldest districts. Narrow streets, small shops, and Sicilian food scents surround the gate near the waterfront. The Kalsa grew from an ancient settlement dating to the third century BC and became a fortified citadel during Islamic rule. Its present structure preserves a sixteenth-century rebuilding and carries the Palazzo Forcella De Seta above it.

Mannerist details shape the façade, including garlands, mask-like capitals, distinctive rusticated stonework, and small figures above the entrance. Two bas-reliefs show armed Greeks, while the former double-headed eagle of Charles V now appears on Monte di Pietà. Inside, paired guides once held heavy logs that formed a double barrier against attackers. A ceiling trapdoor completes the defensive story, allowing boiling oil and other substances to fall on anyone forcing entry.

City: Palermo
Content updated: 2026-06-22

Image: User:Matthias Süßen CC BY 3.0
Image: l0da_ralta CC BY 2.0
Image: Vincenzo Palizzolo GravinaPublic domain

Take this page with you

The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Palermo. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.