🍊 Films on the Map · Regional guide
This is where the films’ “Corleone” was shot: in Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, two small villages above the Ionian Sea, and in the castles and villas at the foot of Etna. 15 filming locations, most a short drive from Taormina, grouped by area with ready itineraries for half a day, a day and two days.
Photo: Ludvig14, 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.
📍 Savoca · ≈ 25 min there
A 13th-century fortress-church on a spur of rock at the end of the village. It houses the silver statue of Santa Lucia, Savoca’s patron saint, which is why many call it “the Santa Lucia church”. The climb is steep; the view over the Ionian Sea repays every step. Nearby, the Capuchin church has a crypt with 17 mummified bodies. Not for the faint-hearted.
📍 Savoca · ≈ 45 min there
Still open on the ground floor of the 18th-century Palazzo Trimarchi, on Piazza Fossia at the entrance to the village. Sit outside under the ivy; inside, the walls are covered in photos from the shoot. Order the lemon granita. Savoca’s centre is mostly car-free, so park at the entrance and walk.
📍 Between Savoca and Forza d’Agrò (approx.) · ≈ 15 min there
We found no reliable source that pins down the exact field. The Sicilian chapter was shot in the hills around these two villages, and fans say a bridge shows in the background. Whoever finds it solves the trilogy’s great location riddle. The link points to the approximate area.
📍 Forza d’Agrò · ≈ 10 min there
The narrow lane where Michael shows Kay the house his father was born in. The location site Almost Ginger gives it as Vico I Roma 5, with the car parked at the corner of Via Belvedere and Via Roma. It’s a private home, so photograph quietly and respectfully.
📍 Forza d’Agrò · ≈ 25 min there
The village’s main church, a Baroque façade at the top of a stairway. The present building dates from 1707, after its predecessor collapsed in an earthquake. Forza d’Agrò is a medieval village 420 m up, with cobbled, mostly car-free lanes, a 15th-century gate (Arco Durazzesco) and the ruins of a Norman castle at the top.
📍 Forza d’Agrò · ≈ 15 min there
The square in front of the Holy Trinity church (Sant’Agostino) and its 16th-century Augustinian convent, entered through the Arco Durazzesco gate. On screen it is “Corleone’s” main square.
📍 Sant’Alessio Siculo · ≈ 20 min there
A small chapel on the road up to Forza d’Agrò, less than a kilometre from the village. From here Forza d’Agrò sits on its hill exactly as on screen. Below are the beach town of Sant’Alessio and the castle on the cape.
📍 Taormina · ≈ 15 min there
A handsome historic station by the sea below Taormina, still in service, with trains from Catania or Messina. From here you climb up to Taormina, the most convenient base for a Godfather trip.
📍 Graniti, Alcantara valley · ≈ 1 h 30 min there
A rocky stream bed below the village of Graniti in the Alcantara valley. There are no signs and no tourists, just quiet countryside where you can picture the 1901 funeral procession winding between the boulders.
📍 Motta Camastra · ≈ 40 min there
A village hanging off a cliff above the Alcantara valley. A few minutes away is the Gole dell’Alcantara, a spectacular basalt canyon where you can wade in the icy river. It makes for a perfect Godfather-and-nature day.
📍 Fiumefreddo di Sicilia · ≈ 50 min there
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.
📍 Mascali · ≈ 10 min there
A country road through the citrus groves at the foot of Etna. Anyone who knows the scene will recognise the Madonna del Carmine church in the shot; use it to find the exact spot.
📍 Acireale · ≈ 15 min there
An abandoned villa on private land in the Acireale countryside, listed on Google Maps as “Don Ciccio’s Villa from the Godfather II movie”. According to the Sicilian paper Balarm, the Don’s chair still stands where it was. Hard to reach; look from outside only.
📍 Acireale · ≈ 15 min there
A private villa above the Acireale coast, now an events and wedding venue, with a big second-floor terrace facing the sea. Entry only as a guest at an event.
📍 Acireale · ≈ 15 min there
A 19th-century neo-Gothic castle of the Pennisi di Floristella barons, in a private park in Acireale. It was offered for sale in 2020–2022 for some five to six million. Private; seen from the street only.
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 20 min
Savoca and Forza d’Agrò are about 20 minutes apart and half an hour from Taormina. Inside the villages you go on foot. Start with a granita at Bar Vitelli and end with sunset at the viewpoint.
Estimate: ≈ 6 h 50 min
Savoca and Forza d’Agrò are about 20 minutes apart and half an hour from Taormina. Inside the villages you go on foot. Start with a granita at Bar Vitelli and end with sunset at the viewpoint.
Godfather meets nature: the villages of the exile and flashback scenes, plus the Alcantara basalt canyon. Bring water shoes.
Day 1 · ≈ 6 h 50 min
Savoca and Forza d’Agrò are about 20 minutes apart and half an hour from Taormina. Inside the villages you go on foot. Start with a granita at Bar Vitelli and end with sunset at the viewpoint.
Godfather meets nature: the villages of the exile and flashback scenes, plus the Alcantara basalt canyon. Bring water shoes.
Day 2 · ≈ 3 h 40 min
Along the coast and the foothills of Etna. Castello degli Schiavi opens by appointment only; the Acireale villas are seen from outside.
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.
Some places are private homes or closed villas. Photograph from the street; don’t enter courtyards.
Spring and autumn are loveliest. Summer middays are very hot, so start early and finish at sunset.
FAQ
This guide has 15 filming locations in Taormina and the Godfather villages, from the “The Godfather in Sicily” collection, where 21 scenes were filmed. Each place has what was filmed there, what’s there today and a Google Maps link.
Yes. It still operates on the ground floor of Palazzo Trimarchi, on Piazza Fossia at the entrance to Savoca. Inside, the walls are covered in photos from the shoot; order the lemon granita. The village centre is mostly car-free, so park at the entrance and walk.
In Savoca. The ceremony takes place at the church of San Nicolò, which many call “the Santa Lucia church”, and the procession then walks down the narrow street along the cliff. According to Italian Wikipedia, the famous scenes were shot outside the church.
At Castello degli Schiavi in Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, an 18th-century Baroque villa that plays Don Tommasino’s villa. It appears in all three films, and the trilogy ends there. The villa is privately owned, and visits are by appointment only.
It is the trilogy’s great location riddle. We found no reliable source that pins down the exact field. The Sicilian chapter was shot in the hills around Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, and fans say a bridge shows in the background.
The guide has ready itineraries for half a day, one day and two days. As a rough estimate, all the places together take about 10 h 55 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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