Lovely church and a monastery. Please spend a little extra to visit the roof - views are amazing! Nice little garden where you can rest with some drinks and sweets from the local coffee shop (the coffee shop is a bit too busy but not bad).

This is a must see in Palermo. You will see a beautiful baroque style church, the monastery where the cloistered nuns of the Dominican order lived, you get to eat sweets from the confectionary shop which uses old recipes from the nuns, and you get to go through the attic space to climb to the roof for an amazing view. This is a great place to visit and plan on 1.5 to 2 hours at this incredible location. Be sure to note on the second floor, the metal grates from behind which the nuns could see their familes when they would come for mass. Since they were cloistered, they could not have any contact with their family.

We hate to publicly admit it, but there are so many beautiful churches, monasteries and convents in Palermo that it eventually became impossible to honestly declare that one was more impressive than another. The Church and Monastery of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria was singularly memorable for its confectionary...besides the absolutely stunning interior of the church itself. Unfortunately, none of the "old nun's recipes" were apparently gluten free, but we have chosen not to downgrade this rating solely because we could not purchase and enjoy the available goodies.

Instead of visiting the convent and sampling the famous pastry prepared by the nuns, we decided to visit the church, built in 1310 and refurbished in 1532. If we said that we were dazzled by the richness of the interior decoration, that would be an understatement! Every part of the decoration is of course a great artwork, executed meticulously and the materials used are very expensive. Did we like it? Parts of it, yes. But as a whole, it seems a little overdecorated!

Church looked to be cash only to enter. We did the church, old monastry and viewpoint ticket, although there are so many places in Palermo to take views that the church itself would have been fine. Beautiful old church, and also great traditional bakery (which you can go to without paying for the church)

This place is astonishing. Entrance to the monastery also gives access to the church and walls as well (for cE10). The church is astonishingly ornate with complex marble designs. There are good views from the walls over the town. But visiting the monastery provides insights into the life of the nuns. It is the home of the original cannoli but these can sll ou early in the day. Visits to the cafe and courtyard can be made for free: very pleasant space. Entrance to the convent is by entry fee Many staff in attendance to provide advice and guidance, but also to ensure visitors dont 'misbehave'