Godfather Filming Locations in Sicily, Film by Film

The Sicily of the trilogy is three places and a railway station, all within half an hour of Taormina — and not one of them is Corleone. Here is each film’s list, with what a visitor can actually enter.

Map of the Godfather filming locations near Taormina, Sicily: Savoca with Bar Vitelli and the wedding church, Forza d'Agrò, the Castello degli Schiavi at Fiumefreddo, and Taormina-Giardini station, with an inset showing Corleone, 290 km away by road — The Godfather triangle above the Ionian coast. Positions from OpenStreetMap; the dashed line is the half-day tour's loop. Corleone, in the inset, had no camera in it.

The Godfather (1972)

The Sicily unit shot in August 1971, after the New York photography wrapped in early July.

Location	What was shot	Can you go?
Bar Vitelli, Savoca	Michael and his bodyguards ask the owner about the girl; she is his daughter	A working café on Piazza Fossia; go in, buy a granita, see the photographs
Church of San Nicolò, Savoca	The wedding — on the steps and forecourt; the procession down Via San Michele to the town gate. The interior was not used	Reopened August 2026 after years of roof repairs; a €2 charge is reported
Forza d’Agrò	Michael walking with his bodyguards through the village, the Annunziata’s façade behind him; the streets around Piazza SS. Annunziata	Public streets and square; the church is a working parish
Castello degli Schiavi, Fiumefreddo	Don Tommasino’s villa: the driving lesson at the well in the courtyard, and Apollonia’s car bomb on the drive in front	Private house; by appointment only, led by the owner, charged. One tour on this site goes in
Taormina	Nothing. The production was based here	—
Corleone	Nothing. The town is about 290 km away by road, nearly four hours, on the other side of the island	—

Two smaller claims circulate. The hilltop church Michael looks up at on the road is generally said to be at Sant’Alessio Siculo, below Forza d’Agrò; and Motta Camastra, inland on the Alcantara, appears somewhere in the Sicilian sequence, though accounts disagree on which shot. Neither is on any tour.

Why not Corleone? The usual account is that by 1971 the town looked too modern to pass for the 1940s. The display in Bar Vitelli gives a different reason — that a payout was demanded of the studio and the plan changed. No statement from Coppola or the production settles it, and we would rather tell you that than quote one that does not exist.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Shot between October 1973 and June 1974; Forza d’Agrò is the featured village, and the crew’s weeks stuck in Sicily waiting for weather are part of the film’s legend.

Location	What was shot	Can you go?
Forza d’Agrò	The funeral procession of Vito’s father; the boy’s escape; the adult Vito’s return after Sunday mass before the cathedral; the then-ruined church of Sant’Antonio and its square	Public; the castle above the village — Norman in origin, the town cemetery since 1876 — has the view of Etna, the valley and the sea
Castello degli Schiavi	Tommasino’s villa again, where the adult Vito’s family stays	As above — by appointment
A dry riverbed below Motta Camastra	Part of the funeral procession, by most accounts	A valley, not a site
Acireale	Don Ciccio’s villa, by the guides that place it	Private
Sparagogna, near Regalbuto	The “Corleone” railway station, by one account	A country halt inland

The last three are unconfirmed in the production record; we list them because the tours mention them, not because we can prove them.

The Godfather Part III (1990)

Sicily in February 1990: Forza d’Agrò’s Largo Piano became a lorry park for some fifteen trucks, and the extras were costumed at a hotel in Taormina.

Location	What was shot	Can you go?
Forza d’Agrò	The wedding coming out of the Annunziata; Kay telling Michael about Mary and Vincent before it; Michael and Kay dancing in Piazza SS. Trinità; Via Belvedere; the house on Via Roma — “the house my father was born in”	Public streets; the church is a working parish
Castello degli Schiavi	Michael’s death, in a chair in front of the house. The chair is still there	By appointment; from the gate, free to look
Taormina-Giardini station	Michael meets Kay — the station plays Bagheria. The only scene in the trilogy shot in Taormina	A working railway station at sea level below the town; walk in
The road near Mascali	Don Tommasino is shot, by the best accounts — not in Forza d’Agrò, whatever the tour says	A provincial road
Teatro Massimo, Palermo	The steps only; the interior was closed for restoration and was recreated	Public square

The same house at Fiumefreddo appears in The White Lotus season two, in the episode where the guests go looking for Godfather sites; taorminawhitelotustour.com maps that show’s Taormina locations in the same way.

The castle, plainly

Because every listing is vague about it, here is the castle’s own account of itself: the Castello degli Schiavi was built in 1750–56 for Don Girolamo Pavone to a design by Paolo Amico Guarrera, passed to the Platania family, barons of Santa Lucia, and is still theirs. The “castle of the slaves” story, the same account says, is a 1922 literary invention; the family derives the name from the quarries. It is hired out for events and has no opening hours. Guided visits exist — about two hours, led by the baron, charged, arranged in advance — and that is what the castle tour on this site is buying. Everyone else sees it from the road.

The tour above is the standard half-day: Savoca and Forza d’Agrò with a guide, no castle. The castle tour, the cheapest seat and the lunch tours are compared on the homepage, and Savoca on your own is its own page.

Distances, for planning

From Taormina: Bar Vitelli 21 km, 35–45 minutes; the Castello degli Schiavi 21 km the other way, about half an hour. Savoca to Forza d’Agrò 13 km, 25 minutes; Forza d’Agrò back to Taormina 17 km, half an hour. The “six miles south of Taormina” you will read for the castle is a straight line over the sea.

Scene attributions from the production record as reproduced by location guides, the castle’s own account of the films shot there, and the Forza d’Agrò comune’s pages on the three productions; dates from the films’ production histories; distances by road, October 2026. Where sources disagree we have said so.

Where The Godfather Was Filmed in Sicily

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The castle, plainly

Distances, for planning

Book the Godfather Tour from Taormina