Bagheria - Old town

The map (Google Maps) of the old town of Bagheria offers you an overview of some things to see, its shopping facilities and the exact location of the Solemar Sicilia holiday lettings.

Below you will find a list of all Sicily - All in one Place maps.

It is Monday, 9 April 1787, and Goethe walks through the huge gate of Villa Palagonia. Ahead of him lies a 500 metre long path through fields and gardens.

Goethe, however, is less than enthusiastic. Instead of greenery, he only sees walls to the right and left on which grotesque statues are up to mischief. 500 grotesque metres long!

It doesn't get any better once he reached the castle. Project Gutenberg has published (obviously in German) Goethe's impressions on this website.

Fortunately, the gate and castle of Villa Palagonia have been preserved and can be visited. They are located in the centre of today's old town of Bagheria. So you can see for yourself. Was Goethe right?

It all started so well: in 1736, Francesco Bonanno - the Prince of Cattolica Eraclea - bought a farmstead in Bagheria and remodelled it into a wonderful summer residence, the Villa Cattolica.

But just 30 years later, the family fell into irrecoverable debt - because of a dowry!

Villa Cattolica was sold and fell on hard times. It served as a military hospital, barracks and tinning factory, among other things.

Until 1973, when the municipality of Bagheria took over the building to exhibit works of art by the town's most famous son, Renato Guttuso. These and the works of other Sicilian artists can be seen here today:

Yes - Bagheria is Palermo's little sister. You can find almost everything here that you can find there. But the big sister has a few unique sides.

It's a good thing that Trenitalia connects both cities so well and that the railway station in Bagheria is in the old town centre.

But it is also interesting in the opposite direction. Here the Trenitalia will take you to Cefalù in 1 hour.

That's right: if you're looking for unusual Italian fashion, there's no getting around Palermo.

But apart from that, the old town of Bagheria, especially Corso Butera and the pedestrian zone Corso Umberto, offers everything a shopper's heart desires. It's not for nothing that we call Bagheria the "little sister of Palermo".

There are endless supermarkets in Bagheria. Even a "Lidl". It's funny that you keep bumping into expats there.

It's February. The trees down in the pedestrian zone are full of oranges. Upstairs, the sun is shining into your home office.

Suddenly a call. An important customer wants to speak to you in person. In London. It's a good thing that the railway station is just around the corner and the train to the airport runs almost every hour.

And it's good that there is a local expat service that will look after your flat while you are away: