Construction of Villa Palagonia in Bagheria (province of Palermo), which hosted illustrious guests in the 1700s, began in 1715 commissioned by Don Ferdinando Gravina, prince of Palagonia. It was nicknamed the villa of Monsters because of the stone statues on the external walls of fantastic animals, grotesque anthropomorphic figures, ladies and knights.
A long drive with plants and flowers, the so-called arch of the Eternal Father at its midpoint, leads to the entrance of the villa with a double ramp of stairs. The villa has two square wings joined by a central curved building.
On the first floor, an oval vestibule leads to the richly frescoed ballroom, whose ceiling is covered with mirrors, and a chapel. The opposite side hosts the billiard room and private apartments. The piano nobile, reached by the staircase, has a vestibule frescoed with scenes of the labours of Hercules and to the right a hall of mirrors.
Sicilia Film Commission
Via Emanuele Notarbartolo 9 — 90141 Palermo
Phone: +39 091 7078008; +39 091 7078264; +39 091 7078133; +39 091 7078145
Email: filmcommission@regione.sicilia.it
