The Lions of Sicily: the location of the series broadcast on Rai 1
What is the location of I Leoni di Sicilia, and where were the filmings of the series, directed by Paolo Genovese, broadcast on Rai 1 in four episodes from September 10, 2024? The series is a sumptuous costume epic that traces the history of the Florios, a family of entrepreneurs who in 19th-century Sicily built a commercial empire, becoming one of the most influential in Italy – with a style that was both conventional and innovative. Sicily is therefore a major protagonist of the images and filming of the series.
In particular Cefalù which hosted the reconstruction of the port of Palermo, through a balance between historical reconstruction, special effects and great attention to restoring the life and excitement of a place that welcomed and increased the fortunes of the Florios.
The Saline: with their visual power, rough and sublime, the dazzling white of the salt dried in the sun. Trapani and the Villino Nasi, a jewel of the early twentieth century, wedged in a sea of a predominantly blue, which for the series was the Harbour Master’s Office. The Tonnara di Favignana belonged to the Florio with its grandeur, where it was not difficult to convey the atmosphere of hard work among the fumes and blood of the tuna.
But it is Palermo that gave the series I Leoni di Sicilia the opportunity to be filmed in places of great visual and evocative power: Piazza Pretoria, with the Palazzo delle Aquile and the great Fontana Salotto of the aristocracy and power. Piazza Bellini, an emblematic place of cultural stratification with the red domes of San Cataldo. The 4 Canti with their délabré symmetries, an excellent setting to frame a nobility in decline. And also important buildings such as Palazzo Mirto, Ganci and Alliata di Villa Franca.
Plot
We have seen the location of I Leoni di Sicilia, but what is the plot The brothers Paolo and Ignazio Florio leave the poverty of Bagnara Calabra to seek fortune in Palermo, where they open a spice shop and quickly become rich. But it will be Paolo’s son, Vincenzo, who transforms Casa Florio into a true commercial empire – spices, tuna, sulfur and ships – in the years of the Unification of Italy.
Fueled by a burning desire for redemption, his ambition is to be treated as an equal by the truly powerful in Palermo: the nobles. For this reason, he seeks a titled wife for himself, but falls madly in love with a bourgeois, Giulia Portalupi, who distracts him from his obsessions. These will fall like a curse on his only son, Ignazio, who will be responsible for upholding the Florio name.
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