Quattro Canti Square

The Quattro Canti, in Palermo

The Quattro Canti, or Piazza Vigliena, is the emblematic baroque crossroads in the heart of Palermo, at the crossing of the two great arteries. The Palermo audio-guided tour stops here to evoke these four corners adorned with concave façades, a true urban salon of the town.

The baroque crossroads of the four corners

Welcome to the heart of Palermo! You are here on the Piazza Vigliena, but everyone calls it the Quattro Canti, literally the four corners, and not the four songs as it is sometimes wrongly translated. This octagonal crossroads marks the intersection of the two great arteries that structure the historic centre of Palermo: the Via Vittorio Emanuele and the Via Maqueda, that divide the old town into four districts. Laid out at the beginning of the seventeenth century, this place is a masterpiece of baroque urbanism. Each of the four angles is occupied by an elegant concave façade, richly adorned and organised on several levels of statues and fountains. These façades are decorated with a symbolic programme: the four seasons at the bottom, four Spanish kings of Sicily in the middle, and the four patron saints of the town at the top. Nicknamed the theatre of the sun, because the light illuminates successively each corner over the day, this crossroads is one of the most emblematic and photographed points of Palermo. A baroque crossroads and a heart of the town, the Quattro Canti is a must-see stop of the discovery of Palermo.

What to see

You admire the octagonal crossroads at the intersection of the two great arteries that divide the old town into four districts, masterpiece of baroque urbanism of the beginning of the seventeenth century, of which each of the four angles bears an elegant concave façade adorned with the four seasons, four Spanish kings and the four patron saints; it is nicknamed the theatre of the sun. The Quattro Canti is a baroque heart of Palermo. It is a must-see stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Quattro Canti lies at the intersection of the Via Vittorio Emanuele and the Via Maqueda, in the heart of the historic centre of Palermo, reachable on foot. It is a public crossroads freely accessible, very lively. You admire it by raising the eyes towards the adorned façades, at any hour of the day.

What does the name Quattro Canti mean in Palermo?

It means the four corners, and not the four songs as it is sometimes wrongly translated: this octagonal crossroads, at the intersection of the two great arteries of the old town, is adorned at the four angles with baroque concave façades decorated with the four seasons, four Spanish kings of Sicily and the four patron saints of the town.

Where is the Quattro Canti in Palermo?

At the intersection of the Via Vittorio Emanuele and the Via Maqueda, in the heart of Palermo, in Italy.