Corleone

ITALY – SICILY

Corleone is not a top destination in Sicily but it is most notably by the famous character of Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando in The Godfather. And that was what moved us to visit the city in the first place.

Doing some research we found out that Corleone was not the actual location of the film. They had some scenes filmed in Palermo, Taormina and Savoca, being the latter especially for the ones that are supposedly Corleone scenes. Vito Corleone never existed but in the fiction yet the reality is very close to the film. Corleone is the actual birth place of several Mafia bosses including Tommy Gagliano, Giuseppe Morello, Michele Navarra, Luciano Leggio, Leoluca Bagarella, Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.

The city of Corleone is a rustic small and yet very charming town. The road to get to Corleone is a sightly tour also. The green hills in between Palermo’s countryside and the city of Corleone are stunning even during winter season.

pic: view of the fortress and the city of Corleone.

It was very hard for us to get some good touristic information about the city and its attractions so hopefully this information here can be useful for someone else.

The best way to get to Corleone is by car. I am not sure if there is public transport but I know there is day excursion from Palermo to Corleone. Anyway we recommend hiring a car and driving through the splendid hills of the countryside (see picture 1).

The first thing to do while in Corleone is to check the hills where the fortresses of Soprano and Sottano are strategically placed. The fortress Castello Sottano can not be visited since it serves as a Franciscan hermitage but you still can drive to the top of the hill and get a nice view of the city and the Saracen fortification.

pic: Castello Soprano – Corleone

We stayed half a day in the city of Corleone. I advise you to stay at least a full day. We didn’t find shops and museum open as it was still holidays time in Italy. I wished we could have visited the Mafia and Anti-Mafia Museum that is one of the must see attraction of Corleone besides its churches and homely streets.

Food tip: Stop to enjoy lunch or dinner at Leon d’Oro Ristorante (Contrada Punzonotto, 90034 Corleone). The food is quite tasty and not expensive. Try the regional Amaro liqueur named ‘Don Corleone’.  Have a shot after your meal to help your digestion.