Per la conservazione, fruizione e valorizzazione delle ville storiche di Bagheria. Le speranze del passato i problemi di oggi

Abstract

The territory that once constituted the "Baronia of Solanto" also included the locality of the "Bagaria", rich in agricultural settlements and, from the second half of the seventeenth century, also of suburban residences of the aristocracy of the nearby Palermo. The villas of Bagheria, with their avenues of access derived from the Baroque and late Baroque, were characterized by the wealth of planimetric solutions, for the use of particular materials, first of all the "stone of Aspra", the valuable calcarenite from golden color, but also for the rich decorations that made it compete with the eighteenth-century villas of Europe. Today this heritage has largely been preserved, also thanks to the restoration work and the change of their intended use, but in general it lacks, for its effective conservation and correct use, the good practice of continuous, loving care, that is, maintenance is missing. Both the public administration and the individual owners are developing strategies for the conservation and use of the complex of the historic villas of Bagheria. Instead, the impression we have is that of the cultural solitude in which the individual subjects operate, but, more seriously, even the Public Administration of Bagheria, which is struggling to understand the meaning, first of all spiritual, and then of opportunities for the city of Bagheria, which the heritage of historic villas represents.