17-03-2025
The Leopard's lavish filming locations that will lure you to Sicily
The Leopard, a new series on streaming platform Netflix, is entrancing viewers with its sultry scenes of political and personal upheaval in 1860s Sicily.
But alongside the swoon-worthy storylines, it's the sumptuous settings that are dazzling fans. If there was ever an onscreen drama readymade for set-jetting, it's this one.
From an iconic Baroque square in Palermo to a lavish palazzo in Siracuse, here's where to find the real-life backdrops of The Leopard.
The series - adapted from the Italian novel Il Gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - takes place as the revolutionary Garibaldi seizes Sicily during his efforts to unify Italy.
Throughout the episodes, we see the city of Palermo preparing for and living through the Redshirt army's invasion.
The Sicilian capital is a confection of curvaceous Baroque architecture - the ideal theatrical and sensual scenery for the show.
Locations include the Quattro Canti, a crossroads with four curved facades adorned with statues and coats of arms, and Piazza Pretoria with its grandiose, sculpture-crammed fountain.
The titular Leopard is Don Fabrizio, the Prince of Salina, whose time-honoured privileges and influence are existentially threatened by the new regime.
His urban pad, Salina Palace, is the real-life Villa Valguarnera in Bagheria, just outside Palermo.
The noble summer retreat and vast estate were designed in the 18th century, with a sweeping oval front court and Pompeian-style frescoed interiors.
For full-immersion set-jetting, you can rent out the family home, currently presided over by Princess Vittoria Alliata who translated the Lord of the Rings into Italian at 16 years old.
You and five other guests can spread out in 700 square metres of bedrooms, dining rooms, drawing rooms and a ballroom, plus 1,300 square metres of sunny-tiled terrace.
If that's a little out of budget, visit Palazzo Comitini in the centre of Palermo instead. Now open to the public, it was built in the 18th century for Michele Gravina Cruillas, prince of Comitini.
The principal public room, the Sala Martorana, is crowned by the splendid 'Triumph of Love' fresco of Gioacchino Martorana. Beneath the lavish ceiling, the Salina family dines in the Netflix series.
The family's country escape is the fictional Donnafugata deep in rural Sicily. For the natural setting, the series uses the Calanchi del Cannizzola.
This area of wild, sun-scorched Sicily near Catania is known as the island's desert. From the yellow grassy plains, dry ridged hillocks rise up forming a surreal, striking landscape.
The scenes in the town centre of Donnafugata were filmed in Ortigia, an island just off mainland Siracuse and considered the city's historic quarter.
Accessible by two bridges, it has an area of just one square kilometre but is rich with 17th, 18th and 19th-century buildings.
The Palazzo Beneventano Del Bosco in Ortigia's main square is a creamy, Baroque delight which stands in for the exterior of the Salina palace of Donnafugata.
Hikers will have to pay to climb up Mount Fuji using any of its four main paths starting from this summer.
Under a new bill passed on Monday, an entry fee of ¥4,000 (€24.70) will be introduced in time for peak season.
Japan's highest mountain has been struggling with overtourism. A dramatic increase in visitors is causing pollution and safety concerns.
To help clean up the mountain and preserve its environment, authorities previously introduced a fee and a daily visitor cap along the most popular trail in 2024.
Last summer, visitors to Mount Fuji had to pay ¥2,000 (€12.35) to hike up the Yoshida trail. This is the most popular ascent thanks to its easy access from Tokyo and the frequency of mountain huts en route offering accommodation and meals.
Japan's Yamanashi prefectural government, which oversees hiking activities at the UNESCO World Heritage site, deemed it necessary to introduce the toll to protect the environment.
It also implemented a 4,000 people per day limit on hikers using the Yoshida trail to ease congestion.
Now, the fee to hike the iconic trail is doubling to ¥4,000 (€24.70), a charge which will also apply to three other routes that were previously free.
Hikers will have to pay between July and September, which is the peak climbing season.
Last year, authorities said the proceeds would be used to construct shelters along the path for use in the event of a volcanic eruption and to maintain the hiking route.
Since 2014, climbers ascending the mountain via any of its trails have also been encouraged to voluntarily pay ¥1,000 (€6.20) per person towards the preservation of the site.
The restrictions that were brought in last year proved to be effective, reducing the number of visitors ascending Mount Fuji from 221,322 in 2023 to 204,316, according to figures from Japan's environment ministry.
Another measure brought in last year to curb overtourism in a nearby town has also proved effective.
Fujikawaguchiko got so fed up with tourist crowds that they built a huge fence blocking the view they were coming for - Mount Fuji.
The 20-metre long and 2.5-metre high fence covered with a black mesh prevented tourists from taking selfies with the landmark after incidents of littering, crossing dangerously through busy traffic, ignoring traffic lights and trespassing into private properties.
The barrier was taken down in August as a precaution when a typhoon was forecast, but authorities decided not to reinstall it as it proved to have been effective.
They warned, however, that it could be put back up if tourists return in large numbers.
