Villa Bonanno e Palazzo Sclafani

The story

Villa Bonanno is the public garden in front of the Palazzo dei Normanni, laid out in the early 20th century on ground where excavation brought Roman houses with mosaic floors back to light.

On one side of the garden stands Palazzo Sclafani, built in 1330 for Matteo Sclafani, count of Adernò, in Sicilian Gothic with a banded front and interlaced arches.

The palace was later turned into a hospital and used as one for centuries; today it houses military offices.

Why it is worth it

This is where you sit in the shade of the palms after the Cappella Palatina. Three thousand years are within fifty metres: Roman mosaics under the lawn, the Gothic palace on one side, the cathedral just beyond. Look at the front of the Sclafani, its bands of light and dark stone: Gothic as Sicily made it.