Extreme Mafia-Home Makeovers
Stay Where the Bosses Slept
Take, for instance, Bernardo Brusca, the capo of one of Sicily's most brutal crime families. He often stayed in a 17th century farmhouse with vaulted ceilings and terra cotta tiled floors. Brusca's former residence is now known as Agriturismo Portella della Ginestra and was the first Mafia property in Sicily to become a bed-and-breakfast open for business.
The chefs at Agriturismo prepare such fine meals as pasta alla Norma, made with a sauce of fresh tomatoes, eggplant, basil and pecorino cheese, and zucchini in beer batter. All of the wines served are from the grapes of the nearby vineyards once owned and operated by the Mafia families or La Cosa Nostra.
One cannot help but wonder at the thought of sleeping where such brutal crimes were conceived in the minds of mob bosses. The Godfather movies directed by Francis Ford Coppola brought the Mob to the big screen and we saw this lifestyle and the "families" in a whole new light. Make no mistake, the mafia men - yes, there were no mafia women, only wives and girlfriends - lived in these homes and plotted murderous schemes of revenge against the other families and the betrayers.
Could you sleep in such a place?
The Corleone (the family name used by Mario Puzo in the Godfather novels) is a mountainous town in Sicily. The Agriturismo Terre Di Corleone is a farmhouse perched above Jato Valley and once owned by the capo, Riina. It is the second B&B to open in Sciliy. You can see it here. It will cost you about 45 euros a night to say in one of the rooms.
While I have enjoyed the pleasures of staying at some of the B&B's over most of Europe, somehow the thought of sleeping where the Mafia once dominated the roost doesn't lend itself as a romantic getaway for me. It's an offer I shall refuse.
http://www.italofile.com/2010/07/13/a-bribe-free-holiday-in-sicily/
http://www.addiopizzotravel.it/eng/
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/travel/04explorer.html
http://mafiatoday.com/sicilian-mafia-ndrangheta/old-mafia-lairs-now-peaceful-sicily-bbs/
Published by Michele Starkey
Optimist who enjoys writing, laughing and spreading good news. If I have but one life to live, I hope to make mine memorable. My epitaph will read: she lived, she loved, she left. View profile
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55 Comments
Post a CommentHmm. I'd expect these places to be haunted. ;)
Nope, I'm not staying at any of those B&B's.
Page Love and loving (((hugs)))... :o)
great one!
What a great article. Thanks for sharing Michele!
Nice article, but I couldn't consciously sleep in such places
Great article. It might be interesting, but I can see people having nightmares and imagining waking up next to a horses head.
Great article, Michele! I had not heard of this before!
it wouldn't bother me to sleep there at all.
Your titles always intrigue me. The Agriturismo Terre Di Corleone bedroom is surprisingly spartan--or maybe not for a farmhouse where murderous plots were conceived.