Bagheria

A favorite summer haunt of Palermo's nobility in the 17th and 18th centuries, Bagheria is studded with a fabulous collection of Baroque mansions. Most of these were subsequently allowed to fall into ruin, and the town itself became notorious for its illegal building developments and Mafia activities. Today, an air of neglect hangs over the place, but some traces of its former glory have survived, and two of its palaces, Villa Cattolica and Villa Palagonia, have opened to the public, holding, respectively, an important collection of 20th-century Sicilian art and a bizarre assemblage of grotesque statuary. For these alone, Bagheria makes an intriguing excursion, well worth a morning or afternoon off the beaten track.