Villa Boscogrande

Villa Boscogrande, the favorite holiday resort of the Palermo nobility

Villa Boscogrande is an 18th-century noble villa.
It was built during an era of great splendor for Palermo, becoming the ideal seat for the Sicilian nobility, who began to gather from their home fiefdoms into a city that was becoming an increasingly important economic, cultural, and social center.
The splendid Villa Boscogrande, built in 1768 and inspired by the lavish Palace of Versailles, comes to life in the enchanting green expanse of Piana dei Colli, the favorite holiday resort of the 18th-century Palermo nobility.
Villa Boscogrande was built on a pre-existing "baglio" (a traditional Sicilian fortified courtyard) of the Sammartino family, who became noble thanks to King Philip V, who named Giovanni Maria Sammartino di Ramondetto the first Duke of Montalbo. The villa was initially named after the Montalbos.
It took the name Villa Boscogrande only after the marriage of Felicia Montalbo to a young man from the wealthy Boscogrande family.
Villa Boscogrande was chosen by Luchino Visconti as the setting for some scenes in the famous film "The Leopard" based on the novel of the same name by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.