The Godfather in Sicily

Why The Godfather was not filmed in Corleone

The real Corleone sits inland, south of Palermo. By the early seventies it had grown, modernised and lost the look Coppola wanted — and the production had reason to keep its distance from the town's actual reputation.

So the crew went east instead, to two hill villages above the Ionian coast that had barely changed in a century. Nearly every Sicilian scene you remember from the first film was shot in Savoca and Forza d'Agrò.

Savoca: the wedding church and Bar Vitelli

Savoca is a village of a few hundred people on a ridge above Santa Teresa di Riva. Two things bring people here.

Bar Vitelli, where Michael asks Apollonia's father for permission, is a real bar and still open. The courtyard, the stone arch and the terrace over the valley are unchanged, and the family that owns it kept the photographs from the shoot.

And the church of Santa Lucia, above the village, is where Michael and Apollonia marry — the scene with the procession down the steps. That is the single most recognisable wedding scene in cinema, and it was filmed twenty-five minutes from Taormina.

Forza d'Agrò: the piazza and the church

The next village along the ridge. The church of Sant'Agostino and the square in front of it appear in both the first film and Part III, and the approach through the archway is instantly familiar.

It is quieter than Savoca and worth the extra fifteen minutes. From the top, you see the whole coast down to Taormina.

Castello degli Schiavi: the Corleone villa

At Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, between Taormina and Acireale, an eighteenth-century villa served as the exterior of the Corleone house in Sicily — the gate where Apollonia dies in the car.

It is privately owned and visited by arrangement rather than turning up.

Acireale: the Godfather Part III locations

The third film moved south to Acireale, a baroque town on the lava coast below Etna.

Castello Scammacca, a nineteenth-century mock-Gothic palace on the edge of town, stands in for the Roman palazzo of Licio Lucchesi.

And Villa La Limonaia is Don Altobello's villa — the head of the Tattaglia clan, in the scenes where he works his way back into the family. The villa is a working wedding venue today, and one we plan weddings at: citrus groves, terraces above the coast, a room for two hundred and a garden that has not changed since the shoot.

Read nextVilla La Limonaia and other venues

Getting married at a Godfather location

Of everything on this list, Villa La Limonaia is the one you can actually book. That is unusual: film locations are normally museums, private houses or simply a street corner.

Some couples want the connection stated — a nod in the invitation, a photograph on the same terrace. Others simply like the villa and find the history a footnote. Both are fine, and it is worth deciding early, because it changes the tone of the day more than people expect.

Savoca is a different matter. The church of Santa Lucia can be arranged for a religious ceremony, but it is small, the village is steep and every logistical decision follows from those two facts. It is possible, and we have looked into it properly — it is simply not the easy option that people assume from the photographs.

Read nextWeddings in Taormina·What it costs

Seeing the filming locations in one day

From Taormina, the route is Savoca, Forza d'Agrò, then Castello degli Schiavi and Acireale on the way south — comfortable in a day with a car, tight without one.

Go early. Savoca has one narrow road in, and by mid-morning in summer the tour vans have arrived. In April, May or October you will have the church steps to yourself.