 It is located in the heart of the historic centre, between Via Maqueda, Piazza Pretoria and Piazza Bellini, in the same area of other well-known architectural landmarks like the Fontana Pretoria, the Baroque church of Santa Caterina and the Medieval churches of Martorana and San Cataldo (both of them are World Heritage Sites).Until the late 19th century the origin of the palace remained cloaked under a shadow of legend.For centuries the general view was that the palace was built in the 14th century from the will of King Frederick III of Sicily.