🎭 Films on the Map · Regional guide
The Teatro Massimo steps where Part III ends, the gardens of Villa Malfitano and the old town’s main street — and beyond Palermo, the real Corleone, the temple of Segesta and Erice. 7 places, with ready itineraries for half a day, a day and two days.
Photo: Stendhal55, CC BY-SA 4.0
The map
The numbers are a suggested walking order. Pick an area to zoom in, and tap a pin to see what was filmed there.
Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Pin = a filming location from “The Godfather in Sicily” · the number = the suggested walking order
Tap a pin on the map
Locations, distances and times are estimates only. Check opening hours, prices, access and safety before you go.
The places
For each place: what was filmed there, what’s there today, an estimate of the visit time, and links to Google Maps and the scene page.
📍 Palermo · ≈ 50 min there
Built in 1886 for Joseph Whitaker, of the British Marsala-wine family. It is surrounded by a superb botanical garden with a rare Dragon’s Blood tree. The gardens and villa are open to visitors, usually for a fee; check hours before you go.
📍 Palermo · ≈ 50 min there
Italy’s largest opera house and Europe’s third largest, opened in 1897. It was closed for a long restoration (1974–1997) during filming, so only the exterior and steps were shot here; the auditorium was recreated at Cinecittà in Rome. Today it offers guided tours and performances.
📍 Palermo · ≈ 30 min there
Palermo’s ancient main street, “il Cassaro” to locals. It runs from the harbour to the cathedral and the Porta Nuova gate, crossing the famous Quattro Canti junction halfway along.
📍 Corleone (Palermo) · ≈ 1 h 15 min there
About an hour’s drive south of Palermo. Visit CIDMA, the international documentation centre on the Mafia and the anti-Mafia movement, which displays files from the Maxi Trial against Cosa Nostra. A sobering visit that shows the real story behind the films.
📍 Calatafimi-Segesta · ≈ 1 h 30 min there
A 5th-century BC Doric temple, one of the best preserved anywhere, with a Greek theatre on the hill above. The archaeological park is open to visitors for a fee. In the film the family’s convoy drives the road below while the temple towers behind it.
📍 Erice · ≈ 30 min there
A 15th-century church in Erice, a stone town on a mountaintop some 750 m above Trapani, reached by cable car from below. The views take in the bay and the Egadi Islands, and the town is famous for its almond pastries.
Itineraries
All times here are estimates (a rough visit time plus travel by distance). Check opening hours and tickets before you go.
Estimate: ≈ 3 h 55 min
Start in the gardens of Villa Malfitano, move on to the Teatro Massimo steps (guided tours available), walk the old main street, and finish with a 20-minute drive to Bagheria’s Villa of Monsters.
Estimate: ≈ 5 h
From Palermo, head south to the real Corleone and its Mafia documentation centre, then west to the temple of Segesta, and end with sunset in Erice.
Day 1 · ≈ 3 h 55 min
Start in the gardens of Villa Malfitano, move on to the Teatro Massimo steps (guided tours available), walk the old main street, and finish with a 20-minute drive to Bagheria’s Villa of Monsters.
Day 2 · ≈ 5 h
From Palermo, head south to the real Corleone and its Mafia documentation centre, then west to the temple of Segesta, and end with sunset in Erice.
Tips
Taormina for the east, where most places are, and Palermo for the west; they are about 3 hours apart by car. Catania airport is the closest to the Godfather villages, about an hour away.
Rent a car. In Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, park at the village entrance; the lanes are narrow and mostly car-free.
Cover shoulders and knees in churches, and keep quiet during services.
Opening hours and prices change. Check the place’s Google Maps card, linked here, before you set out.
FAQ
This guide has 7 filming locations in Palermo and western Sicily, from the “The Godfather in Sicily” collection, where 8 scenes were filmed. Each place has what was filmed there, what’s there today and a Google Maps link.
Hardly. By 1971 the real town looked too modern for the 1940s, and the production was reportedly asked for “protection money”. So the films’ “Corleone” was shot in Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, some 180 km to the east. The real Corleone is about an hour’s drive south of Palermo.
On the real steps of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy’s largest opera house. The theatre was closed for a long restoration (1974–1997), so only the exterior and the steps were filmed there; the auditorium scenes were shot at Cinecittà in Rome. Today it offers guided tours and performances.
The guide has ready itineraries for half a day, one day and two days. As a rough estimate, all the places together take about 9 h 45 min of visiting and travel at a normal pace. The planner splits them into one to five days, at the pace you choose.
Yes. In the trip planner you pick the number of days, a pace and how you’ll get around, and get a day-by-day plan with time estimates, a map for each day and Google Maps directions. The plan is saved in your browser, and you can send it as a link.
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