It may look like a fairy tale castle, an enchanted home straight out of an old story. It stands 346 meters up on Mount Pellegrino, the mountain – little more than a hill – that appears in nearly every image of Palermo. Goethe called it “the most beautiful promontory in the world” in his Italian Journey. A Liberty-style (Art Nouveau) structure with a neo-Gothic, castle-like profile, it looks out over Palermo with sweeping views of the gulf and the ring of mountains that form the Conca d’Oro.
Cavaliere Michele Utveggio, originally from Calatafimi, bought the land from the City of Palermo in 1927. Work began in 1928 financed entirely by him, and finished in just under five years, in 1933. That pace was likely possible because the contractor, Utveggio & Collura, belonged to Utveggio himself. The firm had already built projects in Palermo, including the Utveggio cinema-theater in Piazza Verdi and Palazzo Utveggio on Via XX Settembre, and it had the most up-to-date equipment.
