Bagheria, about 15 Km. from Palermo, is a small town placed in a valley full of citrus orchards, very close to the School.
The ancient "Bagarìa", first developed at the beginning of the eighteenth century around the monumental villas of the Palermitan nobility who have chosen this countryside facing the sea to build their own sumptuous villas and summer resorts. The first one was Villa Butera, built in Baroque style by the Prince Giuseppe Branciforti in 1657. Similar villas were built in the following years.

We mention, for example, Villa Valguarnera (1721) built on  a project by the architect Tommaso Maria Napoli with a typical XVI century design. It  is the most elegant and best conserved one, also as regards the park around it. But the most famous villa of Bagheria is, without any doubt, Villa Palagonia built in (1715) by the same architect. Its fame is linked to the bizarre figures of monsters decorating the entrance and the whole house. They were originally 600 statues, commissioned by the extravagant Prince of Gravina. Today, there remain only 62 grotesque exemplars, placed all round the boundary wall. We have to mention also Villa Cattolica, seat of a permanent art exhibition of Renato Guttuso pictures.