The Western Sicily Delegation of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George held on Sunday 29 June 2025, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles, in the evocative setting of the Church of San Giorgio dei Genovesi in Palermo, the final event of their activities of the year 2024-2025. This was the presentation of the book “Palermo Dominante – Il soggiorno dei Borbone alla Favorita e a Boccadifalco (1798–1820)” (“Dominant Palermo – The stay of the Bourbons at Favorita and Boccadifalco (1798-1820)”). The historical-cultural meeting began with a touching prayer in honor of the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, HRH Prince Pedro of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta, Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies, on the occasion of his name day, a moment of reflection and respect for the noble tradition. The event concluded with the words of the Delegate for Western Sicily, Nob. Prof. Avv. Salvatore Bordonali, Knight Grand Cross of Justice, who expressed his appreciation for the work and the importance of these initiatives of the Delegation, which promote the history and traditions of the Sicilian land.
The presentation of the book Palermo Dominante. Il soggiorno dei Borbone alla Favorita e a Boccadifalco (1798–1820) (40due Editore 2024, 368 pages) by Prof. Francesco Lo Piccolo, saw the presence, in addition to the author himself, of the illustrious Arch. Eng. Giacomo Fanale, Knight of Merit, who shared with the participants the themes and inspirations that guided the writing of the presented work.
Ferdinand of Bourbon, King of Naples and Sicily, fled to Palermo with his court in 1798, protected by the English. He lost Naples, his wealth, and a son in the crossing. Yet he did not lose heart and, as soon as he arrived, devoted himself to his favourite passions: establishing reserves where he could practice hunting, breeding, and fishing. In the “dominant Palermo”, Ferdinand and his son, Crown Prince Francis, wanted separate reserves, one in Colli and the other in Boccadifalco because one preferred hunting and the other agricultural experimentation. Here they introduced agricultural tools and techniques that had already been largely experimented upon in Naples but were new to the island, a dairy production that Sicily did not know, new breeds for hunting and breeding, exotic and rare plants that were the object of study and others that were the basis for future production on a large scale. This book tells, in great detail and based on archival research, the history of these reserves when the Bourbons lived there. The novelty of this volume consists in the hunting and botanical investigation, in the history of the aggregated estates, in the reconstruction of the daily life that was led at Favorita and Boccadifalco.
During the meeting, Cav. Giacomo Fanale enriched the discussion with historical insights and anecdotes, making the meeting particularly engaging with his speech, the text of which is reported below.
Afterwards, Prof. Francesco Lo Piccolo passionately presented his book, underlining the importance of the history and culture of Palermo, fundamental elements for understanding the identity of the city and of a family that has been instrumental in its economic dynamics by creating economic activities that had made Palermo more prosperous for a decade. Already an adjunct professor of Archives, Bibliography and Library Science at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Palermo, the author is a freelance researcher who publishes studies and documents on Palermo and its territory with reference to ecclesiastical history, urban planning, topography, historical archives and the heraldry and genealogy of his City.
The talented young artist, Mattia Ciro Milo Mattia – who recently exhibited his works in the exposition “With the eyes of the soul looking at the future” organized in Bagheria at Villa San Cataldo and from 5 July 2025 will participate in the biennial exhibition BIST 2025 at the Palazzo Reale della Ficuzza, an impressive Bourbon residence – during the event donated to the Delegate an impressive painting, a tondo on canvas with acrylic and oil technique depicting the insignia of the Constantinian Order.
The report of Cav. Giacomo Fanale:
The Bourbons in Palermo – The royal estates The Casina Cinese and the Tenuta di Boccadifalco
His Majesty King Ferdinand III of Sicily and IV of Naples was present in Palermo twice. The first time, from 26 December 1798 to 1802, followed the proclamation of a Neapolitan Republic. The second time, from 1806 to 1816, following the Napoleonic occupation of Naples. This residence represented for the Kingdom of Sicily about twenty years of rediscovered greatness, after years of vice-regency, and of marginality into which Sicily had fallen.
Ferdinand III of Bourbon, the last King of Sicily, was never officially crowned, like the previous Sovereigns of the Kingdom of Sicily, in the cathedral of Palermo. This was because he ascended to the throne at the age of only eight, succeeding his father Charles III of Bourbon, who found himself called from Italy to become the the King of Spain.
Ferdinand III, as well as all the members of the royal family, in fact had never set foot on the island before this. They found themselves catapulted into a completely unknown reality, after the sudden escape from Naples, which had fallen into the hands of the rebels, on Christmas Eve 1798, and found themselves upset by the stormy crossing on Admiral Nelson’s English vessels. The daring escape was also tragically marked by the death of Prince Carlo Alberto, only six years old, and ended on December 26 with the landing of the Royal Family and the Court in Palermo, to the great joy of the population at having the presence of the King and the Court in the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily.
If on the one hand the welcome was one of great jubilation and expressed in an exhilarating way, both by the people and by the island nobility, the Sovereigns had a different reaction. They reluctantly accepted the new condition, and always with the ill-concealed desire to reconquer the lost territories. The one who manifested this discomfort with the most animosity was Queen Maria Carolina, who never hid her aversion to this new situation, with subordination to the Sicilian Parliament, which limited the absolute power of the monarchy, boasting prerogatives and privileges. The King, however, adapted better to the new condition, and to the loss of the Neapolitan territories. He immediately showed interest in adapting to the new situation in which he found himself the interests and prerogatives of his state, in particular that of rediscovering and celebrating his passion for hunting, considered a royal privilege par excellence. The recomposition of the Crown’s assets in the new conditions was one of the primary objectives to which the King was particularly committed.
He was fascinated by a small house whose exotic architecture was so “modern”, inspired by the taste for chinoiserie, which he remembered having already appreciated in Naples, considered so original, and by most people quite extravagant in its Chinese-inspired architecture. The small house, located in a dominant position on the Colli plain, and near the slope of Mount Pellegrino and the Mondello marsh, was considered by the King to be a suitable place for the construction of a hunting lodge, and he therefore expressed the desire to acquire it. The site on which the building stood was completely transformed by significant landscaping works and the creation of avenues and fountains, with extensive planting under the direction of expert agronomists, so as to quickly adapt it to the needs and characteristics of a hunting lodge, expanding its boundaries with the acquisition of neighbouring territories.
For the management of the new estate, he recalled from Naples both the personnel dedicated to management and those dedicated to the repopulation and maintenance of game, to the breeding of herds, such as those necessary for the breeding of horses imported from Carditello, and of Merino sheep, as well as the planting of new tree species and seeds. Cultivation methods and tools still unknown in Sicily were introduced, as well as production and processing, including dairy products, deriving from the many agricultural and breeding activities active on the estate.
Even Crown Prince Francis, whose passion and aptitude for agricultural experimentation was shared with his father, delighted in the practice of breeding and agriculture, giving life to the estate he created in Boccadifalco, just next to the City. In this county, at the Prince’s suggestion, a botanical garden was planted, where new species of plants were experimented on and planted. The spread and planting of citrus groves on a large scale, in particular of mandarin groves, which is still the most widespread citrus fruit in production in the Conca d’Oro, is due to the Bourbons, and in particular to the Duke of Orléans who was the first to import and plant this variety of citrus fruit in the park of the Palazzo d’Orléans.
The preface introduces the presentation of the volume that Professor Francesco Lo Piccolo, with a wealth of unpublished details, recounts the interests, activities and life of the Bourbon Sovereigns in Palermo during their forced stay in the first decades of the 19th century.
The narrative, well supported by historical documentation, found through in-depth archival research in both Naples and Palermo, highlights singular and human aspects of the royal figures, in particular when extracted from the diaries and collections of letters between the members of the royal family, in particular the letters of the King and the Queen, in which the human and relational aspects strictly linked to private life, interests and the management of the royal estates emerge.
