Traces the evolution and style of these architectural masterpieces.

* A photographic exploration of a Baroque masterpiece, now returned to its former glory* The stunning restoration of the beautiful Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio palace in Sicily* Wonderfully evocative and full of beautiful imagery. A treat for lovers of Lampedusa's The Leopard* An inspiring insight into palatial interiors and gardensWith its sun-drenched sands and Mediterranean waters, Sicily has been a favored destination of travelers for centuries. History is alive on this island, from ancient accounts of the Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Normans; to the journals of wealthy young European men embarking on the Grand Tour. This book captures the sun-steeped aesthetic of the island, while detailing the restoration of one of its finest attractions: the Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio palace. Marquis de Castelluccio was one of the last "servals" or "leopards" of Sicily - wealthy aristocrats who flooded the island with luxury. Following his death, his home fell to ruin. A half-century later, Jean-Louis Remilleux fell in love with this dilapidated 18th-century palace and made it his mission to restore it. Unveiled for the first time in this beautifully illustrated book, the Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio palazzo is one of the finest testaments to Sicilian architecture and art. Today, lush green palm trees welcome you to the palace's imposing front façade. Frescoes, arabesques, masks, imitation marble, ceilings and wainscoting have all restored to their former glory, over decades of elaborate work. This book charts the restoration process and celebrates the astonishing end results. It contains an album's worth of photographs that capture the beauty of this palace beneath the Mediterranean sun.

The Sicilian prince, Don Fabrizio, hero of Lampedusa's great and only novel, is described as enormous in size, in intellect, and in sensuality. The book he inhabits shares his dimensions in its evocation of an aristocracy confronting democratic upheaval and the new force of nationalism. In the decades since its publication shortly after the author's death in 1957, The Leopard has come to be regarded as the twentieth century's greatest historical fiction. Introduction by David Gilmour; Translation by Archibald Colquhoun (Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)

The Royal Palace of Palermo, today seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, is one of the symbols of Sicily and of the rich Sicilian and national patrimony. Formerly a fortress, then royal palace and finally building of government, the palace is today an

“Reading these guides is the next best thing to actually going there with them in hand.” —Foreword Magazine AN ENGAGING INTRODUCTION TO A CULTURAL GIANT Long before it became an Italian offshore island, Sicily was the land in the center of the Mediterranean where the great civilizations of Europe and Northern Africa met. Sicily today is familiar and unfamiliar, modernized and unchanging. Visitors will find in an out-of-the-way town an Aragonese castle, will stumble across a Norman church by the side of a lesser travelled road, will see red Muslim-styles domes over a Christian shrine, will find a Baroque church of breathtaking beauty in a village, will catch a glimpse from the motorway of a solitary Greek temple on the horizon and will happen on a the celebrations of the patron saint of a run-down district of a city, and will stop and wonder. There is more to Sicily than the Godfather and the mafia.