Santa Flavia - Old town

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

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

The Basilica Soluntina di Sant'Anna was built by a nephew of the famous Sicilian architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini. It is therefore no wonder that the basilica is a typical representative of Sicilian Baroque.

The client was Count Giovanni Filangeri - the landlord of the villa next door. Of course, this was no coincidence either, as the nobility and the church formed the backbone of the political system at the time.

In Santa Flavia, this connection was even of a physical nature: a tunnel connected the Villa Filangeri with the basilica. This meant that the "lordships" were able to ascend and descend in the basilica without being disturbed by the plebs.

The old Sicilian nobility built beautiful baroque villas and Santa Flavia also has one such gem to offer.

Together with the Basilica Soluntina di Sant'Anna, Villa Filangeri offers you a glimpse of feudal times long past.

These times finally came to an end with a land reform after the Second World War. Villa Filangeri became the seat of the city council and is now the "democratic nerve centre" of Santa Flavia.

A real Sicilian villa - such as the Villa Filangeri in Santa Flavia - has a large garden. The recipe for a real Mediterranean garden: refreshing water features, divine statues, palm trees and, of course, lots of flowers.

It's worth discovering the garden as a place to relax, sit on a bench, listen to the fountain and gaze up at the sky through the treetops. You can do this free of charge at any time during the opening hours of Villa Filangeri.

Padre Pio is one of Italy's most popular, but also most controversial saints. There is a monument to him in almost every village in Sicily. However, often not in the central piazza.

This is because the "official" Catholic Church naturally dominates there and is ambivalent about the Padre Pio cult - and not just because he was a follower of Mussolini.

Also in the old town centre of Santa Flavia, the Padre Pio monument is located away from the Basilica Soluntina di Sant'Anna - in a small green oasis. It is a well-kept resting and meeting place for the neighbourhood. So Padre Pio has done something very practical here.

On the way from one of the holiday lettings in the old town of Santa Flavia to the sea, an unusual building shines red in the morning sun at the railway crossing - the Villino Basile. If you were to enter, it would probably be a star among the lost places - abandoned and wedged between the railway line and the country road.

When the famous Sicilian architect Ernesto Basile built it, there were only fields and gardens here. The railway station was new at the time and motivated rich Palermitans to build small villas right here.

At the time, no one could have imagined that trains would whizz past here every half hour - let alone that there would one day be masses of cars.

The Villa Comunale is a small green oasis that connects the railway crossing with the station. In fact, it was the entrance to the railway station at the end of the 19th century.

Apart from a few villas, such as the Villino Basile, there were no houses here at the time, just gardens and fields. And of course the railway station looked completely different. Unfortunately, it fell victim to one of Mussolini's "modernisation projects".

If you are waiting for the Santa Flavia Shuttle in front of the railway station, you may notice an inconspicuous monument on the left. It is dedicated to Francesco Paolo Perez, a Sicilian "all-rounder" of the 19th century, who spent his last years in Santa Flavia and, as a politician, was very much in favour of the construction of the railway line.

Francesco Paolo Perez was not only a politician (he made it to Minister of Education in Rome), but also a lawyer, banker, journalist, writer, literary critic and protagonist of the revolutions of 1848. No, he didn't travel to Ireland for this: this revolution actually began on 12 January 1848 in Palermo!

Santa Flavia is located just outside Palermo and is the perfect base camp for excursions without a car.

The railway station in the village makes it easy to travel by train along the seafront to Palermo in 20 minutes and to Cefalù in an hour.

The Santa Flavia Shuttle, which was introduced in 2024, also starts here at the station. It connects the train station with the urban centres, beaches and many sights of Santa Flavia free of charge!

The "Aciddara" beach is popular because of its sandy beach. The local residents agree, but were understandably annoyed by the many cars parked there.

For this reason, the access road has been blocked with gates for several years, to which only residents have a key, of course.

However, visitors from outside can slip through a narrow "gate in the gate". Unfortunately, bicycles do not fit through there. However, they can easily be connected to the "blue railing" of the country road.

Water is exactly your element? But do you quickly get bored on the beach?

Then we have an insider tip for you: Club Nautico Solanto is one of the many hidden gems of Santa Flavia.

Here you can go stand-up paddling, water skiing and diving, and in summer the club is a paradise for little water lovers:

The "Secche di Solanto" ("secche" means "shoal") is a small, free beach that is hardly known even to locals. It can be reached via a piece of land that was confiscated by the mafia and was therefore no longer used.

Fortunately, the mayor of Santa Flavia managed to "liberate" the property in 2023. The two gates of the property are therefore open to everyone from 9:00 to 19:00. The wind occasionally blows them shut again, but you can easily open the gates again. You can also take your bike down to the beach.

Once there, you will come across a 400 metre long lagoon with small sandy beaches. You can easily recognise them if you switch our Map to "satellite". As you can see, the "Secche di Solanto" is a beach for those who don't really like beaches.

The 'Porto di Spagna' is a private beach. For your entrance fee, you can not only swim, but also learn to swim, surf, sail and even dance. Those, who are afraid of water can play volleyball, tennis and table tennis. Of course, your physical well-being is also catered for at the "Porto di Spagna".

It's November. You're sitting in front of your favourite bar in the sun and treating yourself to a delicious ice cream.

You need to be back in your home office in half an hour. An important customer wants to discuss your latest drafts via video conference. Good that you have a fast fibre optic connection.

But then it's back out into the fresh air. To the sea to your favourite place. That's where you always get the best ideas.

It's a good thing that the local expat service found this flat with a home office for you:

The tiny penthouse Casa Enza has always been one of the most popular holiday lettings in the old town of Santa Flavia. Since its renovation in spring 2025, it also offers a connection to the fibre optic internet - free of charge.

This makes Casa Enza generally suitable for longer stays and especially as a home office. The nearby railway station is also perfect for this purpose. It offers a fast train connection directly to Palermo airport (please see this train map). Clients in the north who wish a visit in person can therefore be reached quickly.

The tiny penthouse is perfect for 2 guests and offers plenty of light and sun even in Winter:

The numbers in brackets describe the number of sleeping places in normal beds plus those on sofa beds:

• Casa Azzurra  (2 + 2)
• Casa Cielo  (2)
• Casa Enza  (2 + 2)
• Casa Sole  (2)

The numbers in brackets describe the number of sleeping places in normal beds plus those on sofa beds:

• Casa Clelia  (2)
• Casa Colibrì  (2 + 1)
• Casa Minerva  (2)
• Casa Livia  (2)
• Casa Luna  (2)
• Casa Mare e Terra  (2 + 1)
• Casa Stella  (3)
• Maison Brigitte  (2 + 1)