The car bomb
Castello degli Schiavi (“Castle of the Slaves”) — Fiumefreddo di Sicilia
In the Taormina guidePlan a day here
On screen
Michael and his young wife live at Don Tommasino’s villa, where he teaches her to drive in circles around the courtyard well. Then the news arrives: his brother Sonny has been murdered in New York, and Michael is no longer safe either. Next morning Apollonia slips behind the wheel to surprise him while Fabrizio, the traitor, quietly vanishes. Michael shouts for her to stop, but the blast comes first.
The place today
An 18th-century Baroque villa among the citrus groves near the sea. Over the lava-stone gate is a Saracen’s head; on the roof, a loggia with two statues of “Turks”, the source of the villa’s name. Italian Wikipedia says that legend was invented for a 1922 newspaper interview. Privately owned; visits by appointment only. In 2022 it also appeared in season two of The White Lotus.
Did you know? According to Balarm, the explosion was filmed at the villa’s entrance and Fabrizio’s escape at the back of the house.
Also filmed here
Sources: movie-locations · Balarm