Page 538 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

536  SOUTHERN IT AL Y

3 Bagheria
Palermo. * 50,000. V @ n Corso
Umberto I (091 90 90 20). ( Wed.
∑ comune.bagheria.pa.it
Today Bagheria is almost a
suburb of Palermo, though open
countryside with olive and
orange groves once separated
them. In the 17th century
Giuseppe Branciforte, Prince of
Butera, built a summer retreat Fishing and pleasure boats moored in the harbour of Trapani
here, starting a fashion that was
quickly followed by other horrified Goethe, who also 4 Trapani
Palermitan aristocrats. The town’s travelled here and called this * 70,000. V @ g n Piazza
core is sprinkled with their the “Palagonian madhouse”. Scarlatti 1. ( daily. ∑ apt.trapani.it
Baroque and Neo-Classical villas. Across the piazza are Villa
The Villa Palagonia was Valguarnera (begun in 1713 by Old Trapani occupies a narrow
designed in 1705 by the architect Napoli), set in its own park, and peninsula. The best buildings
Tommaso Maria Napoli for Villa Trabia (mid-18th in this lively quarter are the
Ferdinando Gravina, the century), but neither churches, such as the Cathedral
Prince of Palagonia. It has is open to the of San Lorenzo (1635) and the
remarkable architectural public. Museo Chiesa del Collegio dei Gesuiti
qualities: a complex Guttuso (18th (c.1614–40). The façades of
open-air staircase leads century) houses a both, and that of the Palazzo
to the first floor, and the modern art gallery. d’Ali (17th century) on Via
principal rooms, all with Garibaldi, display magnificently
unusual shapes, are E Villa Palagonia the ebullience of west Sicilian
arranged around a Piazza Garibaldi 3. Baroque architecture.
curved axis. A later Tel 091 93 20 88. The 17th-century Purgatorio
prince adorned the Stone figure on Open daily (except on Via San Francesco d’Assisi
perimeter wall with the Villa Palagonia during functions). & contains 18th-century Misteri –
grotesque stone monsters E Museo Guttuso realistic, life-sized wooden
which amused the 18th-century Via Rammacca 9. Tel 091 94 39 02. statues used annually in
traveller Patrick Brydone, and Open daily. & the Good Friday procession.
Santa Maria del Gesù on
Via Sant’ Agostino should
be visited for the Madonna
degli Angeli by Andrea della
Robbia (1435–1525) and
Antonello Gagini’s canopy
(1521). In the Jewish quarter,
west of Via XXX Gennaio,
the Palazzo della Giudecca
(16th century) has a strangely
textured façade.
The Museo Pepoli has a
collection of local antiquities.
Of interest are the coral
objects and the Christmas
crib figures (presepi), modern
versions of which are made
here. Next to the museum,
the Santuario di Maria
Santissima Annunziata
contains the Madonna di
Trapani, a statue revered by
fishermen and sailors for its
legendary miraculous powers.
E Museo Pepoli
Via Conte Agostino Pepoli. Tel 0923
55 32 69. Open 9am–5:30pm Tue–Sat,
Open-air staircase of the eccentric Villa Palagonia in Bagheria 9am–12:30pm Sun & hols. &
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp576–7 and pp600–605

536-537_EW_Italy.indd 536 4/5/17 9:31 AM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm