The Villa Palagonia is a patrician villa in

Bagheria Bagheria (; scn, Baarìa ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sicil ...

, 15 km from

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern Italy. The

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

itself, built from 1715 by the architect

Tommaso Napoli Tommaso Maria Napoli (16 April 1659 – 12 June 1725) was an Italian architect, Dominican Order monk, engineer and mathematician. Biography Born at Palermo, Tommaso Napoli received his training under Andrea Cirrincione as a novitiate in the Conv ...

with the help of Agatino Daidone, is one of the earliest examples of

Sicilian Baroque Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the , when it was part of the Spanish Empire. The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque c ...

. However, its popularity comes mainly from the statues of

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

s with human faces that decorate its garden and its wall, and earned it the nickname of "The Villa of Monsters" (Villa dei Mostri). Villa Palagonia

This series of

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s, created from 1749 by Francesco Ferdinando II Gravina, Prince of Palagonia, aroused the curiosity of the travellers of the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

during the 18th and 19th centuries, for instance

Henry Swinburne Henry Swinburne (1743–1803) was an English travel writer. Life He was born at Bristol on 8 July 1743, into a Catholic family, and was educated at Scorton school, near Catterick, Yorkshire. He was then sent to the monastic seminary of La Ce ...

Patrick Brydone Patrick Brydone, FRSE, FRS, FSAScot, FSA (5 January 1736 – 19 June 1818) was a Scottish traveller and author who served as Comptroller of the Stamp Office. Life Brydone was born in Coldingham, Berwickshire, on 5 January 1736, the son of ...

John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professo ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

, the Count de Borde, the artist

Jean-Pierre Houël Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houël (28 June 1735 – 14 November 1813)Conisbee 1996. was a French painter, engraver and draftsman. During his long life, Houël witnessed the reign of Louis XV, the French Revolution, and the period of Napoleon's F ...

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

, prior to fascinate

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

s like

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

or contemporary authors such as Giovanni Macchia and

Dominique Fernandez Dominique Fernandez (born 25 August 1929) is a French writer of novels, essays and travel books. Much of his writing explores homosexual experience and creativity. In 1982 he won the Prix Goncourt for his novel about Pier Paolo Pasolini; and in ...

, or the painter

Renato Guttuso Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...

. In 1885, the villa was bought by private individuals, who are still in its possession, and is partially open to the public. Villa Palagonia (2)

Villa Palagonia has been one of the venues for music concerts held within the framework of the Concert Season of Bagheria (Stagione Concertistica Città di Bagheria) initiative since 2017, with free entrance.

Palagonìa and Mineo

Palagonìa and Mineo are a rocky area rich of caverns escaved and adhibited to be funerary tombs. One of them, the tomb 15 of

Mineo Mineo ( scn, Minìu, Greek: ''Menaion'' and ''Μεναί'', Latin: ''Menaeum'' and ''Menaenum'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, part of Sicily. It lies southwest of Catania, from Ragusa, from Gela, and from ...

(St. Febronia), has an inscription with letters high 8.5/6 cm on the right side and 13/10 cm on the left one. Palegraphic studies of the funerary public inscriptions are the unique available methodology to date Sicilian tombs back to the VII century BC. Similar archeological findings were held in

Licodia Eubea Licodia Eubea ( scn, Licuddìa) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It is bounded by the comuni of Caltagirone, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Giarratana, Grammichele, Mazzarrone, Mineo, ...

, Sciri (with relevant affinities to the etruscan Tarquinia) and Mendolito (

Adrano Adrano (, scn, Ddirnò), ancient ''Adranon'', is a town and in the Metropolitan City of Catania on the east coast of Sicily. It is situated around northwest of Catania, which was also the capital of the province to which Adrano belonged, no ...

), showing a close connection between the

Sicels The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, bu ...

and the population living in the

central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central It ...

like the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

Sources

__NOTOC__ * Claude Arthaud, ''Les Palais du rêve'', Arthaud, 1970 * Michel-Jean, comte de Borch, ''Lettres sur la Sicile et sur l'île de Malte'', 178
Extraits en ligne
*

, ''A Tour Through Sicily and Malta: In a Series of Letters to William Beckford, Esq. of Somerly in Suffolk'' (1st ed. 1773) *

, ''Impressions de voyage'' *

, ''Le Radeau de la Gorgone (Promenades en Sicile)'', photographies de Ferrante Ferranti, Grasset, 1988 * Dominique Fernandez, ''Le Voyage d'Italie (Dictionnaire amoureux''), photographies de Ferrante Ferranti, Plon, 1997 *

, ''Voyage en Italie'', 1787 * P. Hachet, ''Psychanalyse d'un choc esthétique : La villa Palagonia et ses visiteurs'', L'Harmattan, 2002 * Giovanni Macchia, ''Le Prince de Palagonia'', Quai Voltaire, 1987 *

Dacia Maraini Dacia Maraini (; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for ''L'età del malessere'' ...

, ''Retour à Bagheria'', Seuil, 2004 * E. H. Neil, ''Architecture in context : The Villas of Bagheria, Sicily'', Harvard University, 1995 * Madeleine Pinault, ''Catalogue de l'exposition Houël, Voyage en Sicile, 1776-1779'',

musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, RMN *

Mario Praz Mario Praz (; September 6, 1896, Rome – March 23, 1982, Rome) was an Italian-born critic of art and literature, and a scholar of English literature. His best-known book, ''The Romantic Agony'' (1933), was a comprehensive survey of the decadent ...

, ''Bellezza e bizzarria'', 1960 * Mario Praz, ''Le Jardin des sens'', Christian Bourgois, 1975 * F. Santapà, ''Villa Palagonia a Bagheria'', Palermo, Palma, 1968 * R. Scaduto, ''Villa Palagonia: storia e restauro'', Bagheria, E. M. Falcone, 2007 *

Ferdinando Scianna Ferdinando Scianna (4 July 1943) is an Italian photographer. Scianna won the Prix Nadar in 1966 and became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1989. He has produced numerous books. Career Scianna took up photography while studying literature, philos ...

, ''La Villa dei mostri'', Einaudi, 1977 *

, ''Travels in the Two Sicilies, 1777-1780'', Cadell & Elmsly, London, 1790 * N. Tedesco, ''Villa Palagonia'', Palermo, 1988 * Angheli Zalapì, ''Demeures de Sicile'', préface de Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, photographies de Melo Minnella, Könemann, 2000

Filmography

* Several scenes of ''

L'Avventura ''L'Avventura'' ( en, "The Adventure") is a 1960 Italian drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Developed from a story by Antonioni with co-writers Elio Bartolini and Tonino Guerra, the film is about the disappearance of a young woman ( ...

'' (1960), by

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

, with

Monica Vitti Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed f ...

, were filmed at the Villa Palagonia. * In ''

The Wedding Director ''The Wedding Director'' ( it, Il regista di matrimoni) is a 2006 Italian drama film directed by Marco Bellocchio. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Sergio Castellitto - Franco Elica * Don ...

'' (2006), by

Marco Bellocchio Marco Bellocchio (; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schooltea ...

Sami Frey Sami Frey (born Samuel Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Iranian Jewish descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Bande ...

plays the part of a descendant of the Prince Gravina di Palagonia. * Filming of the scenes from "

" are featured in " Baaria" (2009) which is set in Bagheria by director

Giuseppe Tornatore Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...

References

External links

*
Villa Palagonia
- official site *

LIFE Magazine (May 8, 1950) article
{{coord, 38, 04, 47, N, 13, 30, 41, E, region:IT-PA_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Houses completed in 1715

Palagonia Palagonia ( Sicilian: ''Palagunìa'', Latin: ''Palica'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about southwest of Catania. Palagonia borders the fo ...

Baroque architecture in Palermo Buildings and structures in the Province of Palermo Museums in Sicily Historic house museums in Italy Visionary environments Bagheria 1715 establishments in Italy

Palagonìa and Mineo

Sources

Filmography

See also

References

External links