Villa Cutò
In the proximity of the train station, it has seen more than its fair share of change of aristocratic ownership over the centuries; its most notable owners -- besides the princes of Aragona, who commissioned it as their summer residence in the early 1700s, and the Filangeri Cutò family who subsequently acquired it -- was Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Unlike other villas in the area that emulate a bucolic feel, this one resembles a fabulous city palazzo, complete with a loggia on the second floor, yet it lost its grandeur once the surrounding gardens were sacrificed to make room for the railway. The building was purchased by the city of Bagheria in 1991 and now houses, among other cultural initiatives, the Museo del Giocattolo (Toy Museum), with a rich collection of rare children's pastimes and an annexed restoration workshop. The wax figures that were once a part of the Chapterhouse of Villa Cattolica are also kept here.
In the proximity of the train station, it has seen more than its fair share of change of aristocratic ownership over the centuries; its most notable owners -- besides the princes of Aragona, who commissioned it as their summer residence in the early 1700s, and the Filangeri Cutò family who subsequently acquired it -- was Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Unlike other villas in the area that emulate a bucolic feel, this one resembles a fabulous city palazzo, complete with a loggia on the second floor, yet it lost its grandeur once the surrounding gardens were sacrificed to make room for the railway. The building was purchased by the city of Bagheria in 1991 and now houses, among other cultural initiatives, the Museo del Giocattolo (Toy Museum), with a rich collection of rare children's pastimes and an annexed restoration workshop. The wax figures that were once a part of the Chapterhouse of Villa Cattolica are also kept here.
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