Source: wikipedia. Published posthumously in 1958, a year after the death of its author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa , the novel ” Il Gattopardo ” is a splendid fresco of Sicily and its historical events ranging from 1860 to 1910, a period of resurrection, independence and ‘ Unification of Italy .
Palazzo Salina or Villa Lampedusa – Palermo
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa drew inspiration from his family for the writing of the book, the Tomasi di Lampedusa, especially from the biography of his great-grandfather, prince Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi , in the novel the prince Fabrizio Salina .
The story begins in the sumptuous rooms of Palazzo Salina , home of the prince, his wife Stella and their seven children.
The Salina palace was adjacent to the Mother Church. Its short façade, with seven balconies on the square, did not let us suppose its immensity that stretched back for two hundred meters: they were buildings of different styles, harmoniously united around three vast courtyards and ending in a large enclosed garden The Palazzo or Villa Salina in reality and Villa Lampedusa , in San Lorenzo Colli (outside Palermo), the plain where the Palermitan aristocracy of the eighteenth century built their homes outside the city.
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Villa Boscogrande
Photo of Civa61. At the time of the cinematographic reconstruction Villa Lampedusa was not accessible, for the setting of the scenes Luchino Visconti therefore decided to use the nearby Villa Boscogrande (today prestigious receptions are celebrated there), with the splendid terrace and staircase, the wonderful halls and its huge gardens full of marble busts.
Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi – Palermo
Near the Galleria d’Arte Moderna Sant’Anna we find the Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi , where the famous dance scene was filmed .
Today the palace, considered among the ten most beautiful private houses in the world, has maintained its majesty, and can be visited by appointment to admire, beyond the ballroom and the mirrors, the crystals, the chandeliers, the tapestries, the floor with the leopard, the terrace on the square, the austere facade, the magnificent halls, riot of frescoes, precious antique furniture, painted majolica and the courtyard for carriages; it is also open for high-ranking receptions.
Il Quartiere della Kalsa – Palermo
Photo by trolvag. The battle scenes between the Bourbon army and Garibaldi’s red shirts were shot in the heart of Palermo, at the Kalsa, where Tomasi lived during the writing of the novel and where the various places mentioned are located such as the Chiesa della Catena, the Mura delle Cattive.
Palazzo dei Filangeri di Cuto – Santa Margherita Belice
The original manuscript of “Il Gattopardo”, period clothes, a phono-document with the voice of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, posters and waxes of the characters are kept at Palazzo Filangeri in Cuto .
The Palace, “located in the center of the town, right in the shaded Piazza, extended for an immense extension and counted between large and small three hundred rooms …” (from Il Gattopardo) belonged to the maternal family of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and in these places spent the happy summers of childhood and youth, up to the age of twenty.
The building, destroyed by the 1968 earthquake, was partially rebuilt by the Municipality of Santa Margherita Belice; today it is the seat of the Parco del Gattopardo .
Palma di Montechiaro and imaginary places
Source: wikipedia. In the novel, the Salinas went to the Donnafugata fief as a holiday, a place of pure invention where two Sicilian villages, places very dear to the writer, can be recognized; So Tomasi wrote to Baron Enrico Merlo di Tagliavia: “Donnafugata as a town and Palma, as a palace and Santa Margherita”.
The history of the Tomasi family can be savored by visiting the town of Palma di Montechiaro, with a visit to the Mother Church, the Benedictine Monastery, burial place of Blessed Corbera (Elisabetta Tomasi di Lampedusa).
During the Easter period you have the opportunity to taste the curly almond biscuits, made according to the ancient recipe, the one served by their ancestors to the Prince of Salina; from the “Gattopardo”:
He liked the almonds that the nuns made on centenary recipes, he liked to listen to the Office in the choir, and was even happy to pay that community a not insignificant part of his income, as the deed wanted of foundation
