Villa Lampedusa
Street of the Districts.
Villa Lampedusa is a villa located in Palermo, built as a suburban residence at the time of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, who had a summer residence, the so-called Chinese Casina, near which the Sicilian nobility built their country villas. At the beginning of the eighteenth century it was built by Don Isidoro Terrasi, in 1756 some renovation works were carried out based on a project by Giovanni Del Frago, architect. Worthy of note are the decorations made by Gaspare Fumagalli. The villa then belonged to the Alliata di Villafranca princes and finally to the Tomasi di Lampedusa.
At the time of the novel Il Gattopardo was better known as "Observatory in the Hills of the Prince of Lampedusa" from the favorite activity of the then owner, Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi, great-grandfather of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and historical figure who inspired the writer for the character of Prince Fabrizio Salina, protagonist of the novel Il Gattopardo. It appeared as a two-storey building, behind the main body of the villa; the first floor was probably the study, while the second, with the domed roof, was the actual specola. Some of the instruments used by the prince are now preserved in the Museum of the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo. Among these the most relevant are the Merz azimuth telescope, the Lerebours & Secretan equatorial telescope and the Worthington altazimuth telescope. On his death in 1885, the Observatory at the Hills was divided between the heirs and the astronomical instrumentation sold.
Property bound under the law 1089/1939
download decree:
| FROM n. 1406 of 22.06.1979 |
| FROM n. 5593 of 16.05.92 Indirect constraint imposition |
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero)
Photo: web
Information contributions: Web, Region of Sicily
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