About 50 km from Palermo, the nature reserve covering nearly 7,500 hectares includes several woods such as the Ficuzza woods and the Cappelliere woods, dominated to the south by the limestone massif of Rocca Busambra (1613 metres above sea level). It is a territory rich in water, with several natural and artificial lakes.
At the end of the 18th century King Ferdinand III of Sicily established a large royal hunting reserve here, building a lavish hunting lodge.
Royal Palace of Ficuzza
Royal hunting palace of Ficuzza
Located 18 km north-east of Corleone, about 40 km from Palermo, the royal lodge of Ficuzza (Casina reale di caccia di Ficuzza, also called Reggia dei borboni) stands on the edge of the Ficuzza woods nature reserve. It was built between 1799 and 1807 on the initiative of King Ferdinand III of Sicily, to serve as a hunting lodge. He had indeed settled in the region, having fled Naples in 1799 in the face of the conquests of the French revolutionary armies and popular unrest. He also built at the same time the Chinese palace of Palermo.
The king lived here without interruption from 1810 to 1813.
The palace can be visited since 2009. It is a neoclassical-style building. At the centre of the facade a sandstone relief depicts the god Pan and the goddess Diana framing the Bourbon coat of arms, and two clocks are located at the ends.
The upper floor comprises the royal apartment whose ceiling is painted with hunting scenes. The pretty little church of Santa Rosalia has an elliptical plan.
Rooms in the lodge house the Multimedia Museum of the Ficuzza woods with a section dedicated to the architecture of the palace.
The Ficuzza woods
Ficuzza woods
After a period of excessive hunting and felling during the Second World War, the woods of the park are now part of a protected nature reserve (Bosco della Ficuzza, Rocca Busambra, Bosco del Cappelliere e Gorgo del Drago).
Various species of oak are found there, including holm oaks and cork oaks, where a rich fauna lives with deer, wild boars, foxes, hares, weasels, and many birds such as the golden eagle and the peregrine falcon.
The park also has meadows, pastures, ponds (gorgo Lungo or gorgo del Drago, and gorgo Tundo) and rocky massifs.
One can discover beautiful sites, including Rocca Busambra, the highest peak of the Sicani mountains reaching 1673 metres (known as the “Sicilian Dolomites”), the pulpito del re (king’s throne in English), a carved rock with a staircase and a throne along the “trail in the king’s footsteps”, where King Ferdinand III used to sit.
The natural canyon of the Gole del Drago, to the west of the reserve, has several waterfalls.
A trail also leads to the artificial lakes of Coda di Riccio, where small wetland ecosystems have developed.
Royal hunting reserve of Ficuzza 
Ficuzza woods 
Gole del Drago 
Ficuzza woods 
Gole del Drago
Where the Royal Palace of Ficuzza is located: map
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Information
Sources and external sites
- Palace of Ficuzza: en.wikipedia.org
- Ficuzza Nature Reserve: www.wwfsicilianordoccidentale.it, it.wikipedia.org
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