Villa Giulia

The story

Villa Giulia, which people in Palermo also call la Flora, opened in 1778 outside Porta dei Greci, on ground reclaimed between the city and the sea. It is one of the first European gardens laid out from the start for the public rather than for a court.

The plan is geometric: avenues crossing at right angles, four sectors, and a central exedra with the fountain of the Genio di Palermo, the city’s old symbol.

Goethe came through in 1787 and wrote about it in his Italian Journey.

Why it is worth it

It is an orderly garden next to a quarter that is anything but, and half the pleasure is the contrast. Inside there are huge ficus trees, shaded benches, children, people reading. Look for the water clock and the statues where the avenues meet: 18th-century furnishings still standing where they were put.