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A few steps from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the centre of Acireale, Casa Pennisi features a large garden, one of the few that have survived the recent building spree.
This garden dates back to the late XIX century when it was annexed to Grand Hotel des Bains – a popular facility serving the nearby Terme di Santa Venera (Santa venera spa), also appreciated by the Italian Royal family and German composer Richard Wagner.
The green facility was designed by the hotel architect himself, Mariano Falcini. Today, it belongs to the circuit of the “Great Italian Gardens” and since 2013, it has hosted the “Villa Pennisi in Musica” festival, in the month of August.

The garden features a classic layout, with tall box hedges (Buxus sempervirens), several flower beds, and some attractions, such as the wrought-iron gazebo, an ancient terracotta fountain decorated with two playing children, another one surrounded by wrought-iron railings, and the XVIII century church with its marble altar.

A remarkable specimen of wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) climbs on the elegant gazebo and serves as the perfect background behind the cobbled floor; it is surrounded by flowering perennial species such as blue lily (Agapanthus praecox), Osteospermum spp., and rose bushes. In the first fountain, there are water lilies and papyrus (Cyperus papyrus).

In the garden, there are also some small structures, surrounded by box hedges and hibiscus, which housed domestic and wild animals in the past, including a pagoda-shaped aviary.

Plants

Mediterranean and exotic species coexist in this garden: English walnuts (Juglans regia), pines (Pinus pinaster), mulberries (Morus nigra), specimens of Washingtonia spp., huge Phoenix reclinata Chamaerops spp., Yucca spp., Strelitzia reginae, and Chorysia speciosa.