The Literary Park named after Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957) covers a part of western Sicily stretching from Palermo, where the writer was born and wrote The Leopard, to Santa Margherita di Belice, with Palazzo Filangeri Cutò where he spent his childhood, and Palma di Montechiaro, the family fief - three places that are at one and the same time scenarios from the pages of his most celebrated novel and important tesserae in the formation of his literary sensitivity. Published posthumously in 1958 and the inspirational source of Luchino Visconti's film with Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon, The Leopard tells the story of the Prince of Salina and his family in the days of the landing of Garibaldi's Thousand and of the end of a regime, in a novel that was to become a clamorous literary event.

A man of great contradictions, an aristocrat and a Sicilian through and through, Tomasi could be pitilessly critical of his own social class and the land he was born in. The Park is a series of evocations and of localities.

In particular, the fascinating and enigmatic city of Palermo is described by "the Leopard" in one of those oft-recurring moments of transition, of great change, which with a magic that is truly Sicilian are absorbed in a state of absolute immobility.

The Itineraries of the Literary Park pass through a large part of the old city, including the Tomasi family residence and Villa Boscogrande, used as a set for some scenes in Visconti's film.

The Palermo seat of the Literary Park is located just behind the historical Piazza Marina, close to the palace where Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa spent the last part of his life.

The Sceneries of the Park