Villa Trabia

The story

The villa was built in the 18th century as a country residence, in the farmland that then surrounded Palermo, and later passed to the Lanza princes of Trabia, who enlarged it in the 19th century and laid out an English-style park with greenhouses, pools and tree-lined avenues.

The garden holds monumental trees: fig trees with aerial roots, palms, magnolias, a bamboo grove, along with fountains and flowerbeds. In the 20th century the estate passed to the City of Palermo, which opened the park to the public.

Today the villa houses municipal offices and a public library, while the park is used by families, students and anyone looking for shade a few steps from via Libertà and the Giardino Inglese.

Why it is worth it

This is the park where people from Palermo go to read, run or bring their children, not a postcard sight. Under the giant fig trees the air is a few degrees cooler, and the roots hanging from the branches form natural columns to sit beneath. Walk around the villa, look at the ochre façade and the palms along the avenue, then find a bench and let half an hour go by.