TRAVEL GUIDE
Barbara Re
Created on September 26, 2024
More creations to inspire you
Transcript
Bagheria
The city of villas
INDEX
General information
What to see and do
What to eat
Bagheria is near Palermo and it is surrounded by the beautiful sea of Aspra and sweet hills like Monte Catalfano.The city's history is very old.The first settlement was punic, but Bagheria, probably, derives its name from ba-al-gerib, an arabic word that means "the wind's door" for its geographic location.
General information
Butera Palace
What to see and do
It was a medieval style manor and one of the first noble palaces of the city. It was built, in the XVII century, by the Prince Giuseppe Branciforti who, lost the kingdom of Sicily, retreated to his lands. Nowadays, it is the seate of the city's town hall.
It has two towers, a big clock, a gravestone, a lot of elegant rooms and inscriptions wanted by the Prince.
+info
Palagonia Palace
What to see and do
This villa is the emblem of the baroque architecture. It was built, in the XVII century, by Francesco Ferdinando Gravina, Prince of Palagonia to spend his summer holidays.
Then, the Prince's nephew, Francesco Ferdinando junior created the numerous grotesque and bizarre statues that we can see in the villa. Gnomes, centaurs, dragons, players of curious instruments, mythological figures and monsters of all kinds, adorn the palace and sorround the villa.
Palagonia Palace
What to see and do
It seems that the Prince Junior had it built these monstrous figures for a form of revenge against Fate, since he was an ugly and deformed man.The Palace is accessed by a majestic external staircase in marble.
At the entrance opposite the main one, there are two large statues of dwarves that seem to be looking at Palagonia's square.
Palagonia Palace
What to see and do
The villa has a lot of beautiful rooms, like the hall of mirrors when you can see wonderful mirrors and painted glasses.
The building is much admired by visitors also for its artistic shelves, vases and marbles sculpted by Gagini, a famous italian sculptor of Renaissance style.
+info
Cattolica Villa
What to see and do
Another beautiful building is Cattolica Villa which houses the museum dedicated to Renato Guttuso. He was a Bagheria famous artist of the 20th century: painter and sculptor.He gave as gift his works to the city where he was born.
Here there are over 100 of the artist's paintings and a lot of photos, drafts and drawings that express typical colour and warmth of the Sicilian land and Sicilian spirit.
Info
Cattolica Villa
What to see and do
One of the most famous painting of Guttuso is the "Vucciria", of which we can admire a reproduction here. It represents one of the oldest markets of Palermo with every type of goods.
Info
What to see and do
The museum also has an ethnographic section in which there are several finely sculpted and historiated Sicilian carts.There is also a rich area dedicated to film posters.All you can see is a permanent exhibition.
Info
What to see and do
In addition to the villas, Bagheria also includes seaside resort such as Aspra and hill walks in Monte Catalfano.Aspra is a small seaside village famous for the manufacturing of canned anchovies widely used in Bagheria gastronomy. Aspra offers clear sea and a wonderful view of Palermo.Above Aspra there is Monte Catalfano where we can see beautiful landscapes, wonderful sunsets, a lot of trees and plants and some species of birds of prey: eagles and hawks.
SFINCIONE
WHAT to eat
A type of focaccia with anchioves, cheese and onion
PANELLE and CROCCHETTE
They are the symbol of our street food.Panelle is made whit flour of chickpeas.Crocchette are potatoes of cylindrical or spheric shape. Both are fried in extremely hot oil
BREAD WITH SPLEEN
Soft buns with spleen, onion and cheese
Arancine are a staple of our cuisine.They are rice balls with tomato, beans and minced meat, coated with breadcrumbs and deep-fried
ARANCINE
What to eat
CANNOLO
Cannolo is Sicilian pastry consisting of a tube-shaped of fried dough stuffed with ricotta
It is a sort of big fried cream puff with ricotta and chocolate chips. It is decorated with pieces of candied fruit (usually an orange peel and a cherry).It is eaten for the Father's Day (19 March)
SFINCE DI SAN GIUSEPPE
CASSATELLE
They are round-shaped sweets with ricotta, chocolate drops and candied fruit such as oranges or citrons
I.C.S.IGNAZIO BUTTITTA- BAGHERIA
Thank you so much for your attention and your patience.I wish you a wonderful experience in Sicily.
Pricklypears
PALAGONIA PALACE
Dragons
Dragons
Francesco Ferdinando Gravina1715
External staircase ingrey marble
Francesco Ferdinand Gravina
STILL LIFE
Butera Palace
The hall of mirrors
Bagheria pride
Renato Guttuso
Bizzarre dwarves
Bagheria pride
Renato Guttuso
Bagheria pride
Renato Guttuso