Bagheria

Villa Cattolica, Bagheria, Sicily, Italy.

Bagheria, town, northwestern Sicily, Italy, 8 miles (13 km) east-southeast of the city of Palermo. A resort of wealthy Palermitans, Bagheria is noted for several historic villas. The best-known are Villa Palagonia (1715), containing more than 60 Baroque grotesque statues of beggars, dwarfs, monsters, and other oddities; the Villa Butera, with wax figures of monks wearing the Carthusian habit (1639); and the Villa Valguarnera (1721). Formerly called Bagaria, the town is in a fruit-growing area, principally citrus and grapes. Pop. (2010 est.) mun., 55,973.