VILLABATE

Villabate counts almost 15,000 inhabitants. It seems that it was part of a huge estate belonging to the Abbot Agnello and then passed onto his heirs. His fine chapel can be

still admired today.

The site was much appreciated by many Palermo aristocrats who much loved to stay there and enjoying its naturalistic riches. Thanks to a Royal Decree in the early-1800’s, the hamlet ceased to be an administrative division of Palermo to gain its own autonomy, that would be confirmed by an ensuing decree. Its boundries were marked at the end of the same century.

It offers several cultural and artistic sites, begin with the 1800’s Chiesa Madre, dedicated to St. Agatha containing a wooden statue of Saint Joseph by Girolamo Bagnasco, and the remains of lookout square towers built in the Spanish epoch along the coast to guard against incursions from sea.