When I first started reporting on filming locations over 15 years ago, the subject was relatively niche. Since then, its popularity has seriously amped up, with film tourism evolving into an industry all its own, as ardent fans regularly plan trips centered around sites from their favorite movies and television shows. The hobby has become so embraced, in fact, that it has even made its way into pop culture in a rather meta way courtesy of the current season of the hit HBO series “The White Lotus.” In the episode titled “Bull Elephants,” which aired this past Sunday, vacationing octogenarian Bert Di Grasso (F. Murray Abraham) spontaneously plans a tour of “The Godfather’s” Italian locales after watching the 1972 classic in his hotel room one night while visiting Siciliy with his son, Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli), and grandson, Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco).
During their excursion, the trio and Albie’s new friend Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) stop by Castello degli Schiavi, the grand estate that serves as a remote hideout for Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) mid-movie. Purported to be in the Sicilian village of Corleone (Michael’s family’s namesake), in reality, the baroque mansion stands on a fairly rural stretch of road at 11 Strada Provinciale 71i on the outskirts of Fiumefreddo, less than a mile west of the Ionian Sea. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.) It proved a convenient spot for the Di Grassos to visit as it is also situated just about ten miles south of San Domenico Palace, Taormina, the Four Seasons Resort where the current season of “The White Lotus” is primarily set.
Known as the “Castle of the Slaves” in English, the historic property dates back to the 1750s and, according to the Histouring website, takes its name from a legend concerning local doctor Gaetano Palmieri, who is said to have saved the life of the Prince of Palagonia’s son. As a thank you, the prince gifted Palmieri a plot of land, where he built a castle for his wife, Rosalia. Following its construction, Turkish pirates descended upon the grand manor and kidnapped the couple, who they planned to sell as slaves. The two were rescued before being smuggled out of the area, though, and, as Histouring explains, “To thank God, a small church was erected adjacent to the Castle, dedicated to the Madonna of the Sacred Letter and a loggia was built where two statues of Muslims were placed with their gaze turned to the sea, as if waiting to be freed from their companions. Precisely because of the presence of these two Moors (also ‘slaves’ in Sicilian), the Castle took on its current name.”
How much of that tale is true remains to be seen, but Castello degli Schiavi, with its palatial façade, lava stone framing, twin turrets and 10-foot loggia, certainly looks the stuff of legends! A veritable compound, the estate’s surrounding acreage consists of numerous outbuildings, including multiple warehouses, stables and a caretaker’s residence.
Owned by the same family since its inception, the Castle serves as a private home in real life, though it is regularly utilized as a special events venue, with the sprawling front courtyard boasting space for a whopping 400 guests. And, much as was depicted on “The White Lotus,” the estate is also open to the public for tours.
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Image Credit: HBO -
Image Credit: Wikipedia In “Bull Elephants,” Bert hires a car and driver to take his group to the various Taormina-area spots featured in “The Godfather” films. (There are quite a few for those interested in pursuing a similar venture.) Mid-day, they wind up at Castello degli Schiavi, where they eat a sit-down lunch. The production took several liberties when it comes to the location’s onscreen portrayal, though. The Castle does not operate as a restaurant as is purported in the episode, nor is there a “Godfather” gift shop onsite, nor a replica of Michael’s car with a mannequin representing his wife Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli) positioned inside. And be forewarned – visiting the estate requires advance reservations. Fans cannot just pop by same-day as Bert, Dominic, Albie and Portia do. Despite those minor falsities, the manse appears much the same in person as shown onscreen in both “The White Lotus” and “The Godfather.”
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures Castello degli Schiavi is actually one of “The Godfather” trilogy’s most significant locations. In the original film, mafia head Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) sends his youngest son Michael to his native Corleone to protect him from being killed by his family’s many American enemies. While there, Michael moves into the Castle, which plays the home of Vito’s longtime friend, Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), a character that director Francis Ford Coppola describes in “The Godfather Notebook” as “the Sicilian counterpart of The Don.”
Michael’s time in Italy comes to an explosive end in the villa’s courtyard when, in one of the film’s most infamous sequences, his car is blown up with his beloved Apollonia inside. In his pre-production notes regarding the shooting of the scene, which are featured in “The Godfather Notebook,” Coppola writes, “THE SHEER ENORMITY OF THE EXPLOSION – nothing is left. However they want to do it, make it TWICE AS BIG. OVERKILL. The whole thing is seen from a distance: where Michael is standing.”
Coppola’s fiery vision paid off. The segment is easily one of the film’s most poignant, with the bomb serving as the very cinematic catalyst that prompts Michael to head down the same life path as his father and eventually take over The Don’s reigns to become the new Godfather. Captured with a skeleton crew in July and August 1971, the Sicilian scenes were the last of the movie to be shot and, as “The Godfather” author Mario Puzo later wrote, “really did make the film, I think.”
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures The Castle is also featured as the Tommasino estate in “The Godfather Part II.” It is there that a young Vito (Robert De Niro) stays with his wife and children while in Italy to avenge his parents’ death in the prequel portion of the movie, which tells The Don’s origin story.
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures And Michael returns to Castello degli Schiavi once again in “The Godfather Part III,” along with his ex-wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola), and nephew, Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia).
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures The Castle is the site of the film’s memorable final scene in which (spoiler!) an old and thoroughly broken Michael quietly passes away while sitting in the courtyard alone, save for his two loyal dogs.
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures The inside of the manse appears in the production, as well. As described by Fabrizio Fiorenzano, who toured the property in 2021, “The best part of the house is the interior that has stayed exactly the same. In the scene where Al Pacino asks to be forgiven by Diane Keaton, they sit at a wooden table; the table, together with the lamps, the pictures, the doors and furniture seen in the movie are all there, in that fabulous and very elegant eighteenth-century hall.”
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Image Credit: New Line Cinema Castello degli Schiavi has an additional – though far less notable – claim to fame besides being featured in “The Godfather” trilogy. The estate also briefly appears in the 1969 Italian drama “Porcile.” Translation – “Pigsty,” which is very obviously not a commentary on the glorious castle.