Villa Filangeri, summer home of Filangeri
Villa Filangeri (whose full name is Villa Filangeri of Santa Flavia, rarely also referred to as Palazzo Mazzarino), is located in the municipality of Santa Flavia in the province of Palermo.
It was the residence for the summer holiday of the Filangeri family, princes of this territory. Currently it is the seat of the municipal administration of Santa Flavia.
The original nucleus, probably dates back to the first decades of the seventeenth century, when in the current residence there was a “casina”, owned by the priest Don Giacomo Lamattina (or La Mattina).
In 1666, Prince Pietro Filangeri bought the house and the nearby church of Sant’Anna – later transformed to become the current Basilica of Sant’Anna Soluntina – and began construction for his residence for the holiday.
It was however in the following century that expansion and decoration works radically changed the structure of the building: in 1746 the central rectangular courtyard was created, which is rarely present in contemporary villas and around 1750 the façades with stucco elements were decorated. of Rococo style.
After World War II it was sold by the Lanza counts of Mazzarino to the Municipality, which made it its headquarters: this new use, has greatly altered the subdivision of most of the interior spaces, not taking into account the original pictorial and sculptural decorations.
Centennial plant present in Villa Filangeri is the Araucaria bidwillii.