Sicily · Palermo
Corleone
A town of 10,231 in the Palermo hinterland that gave its name to Mario Puzo's Don Vito and now runs Italy's national antimafia documentation center.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Corleone is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 10 min from Palermo
- Population
- 10,231
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J29°
- J33°
- A31°
- S27°
- O22°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Corleone sits at 542 meters on the inner hills of Palermo province, thirty-five kilometers south of the capital, between the Castello Soprano and Castello Sottano that the Arabs and then the Normans held above the town. The name Qurliyūn appears in ninth-century Arab sources; the Hohenstaufen made it a military center, and a settlement at nearby Contrada Stretto has been dated to the sixth millennium BC. The town carries two reputations.
The first is Mario Puzo's, who borrowed the name in 1969 for Don Vito of The Godfather. The second is the one that grew out of the 1980s Corleonesi war: Corleone became the operating base of Cosa Nostra's most violent faction. The CIDMA, the Centro Internazionale di Documentazione sulla Mafia e del Movimento Antimafia, opened in 2000 in the historic center and is now Italy's primary antimafia archive. The Cascate delle Due Rocche run year-round through a canyon behind the town.
How to get there
From Catania (CTA), about 3 h 16 min by car.
By car from the center of Palermo 1 h 10 min.
Coming from Palermo?
Coming by train into Palermo Centrale? Corleone is about 1 h 7 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
CIDMA - Centro Internazionale di Documentazione sulla Mafia e del Movimento Antimafia
Italy's primary antimafia archive and museum, opened 12 December 2000, holding case files, photographs and the testimony of victims.
Cascate delle Due Rocche
Year-round waterfall on the San Leonardo river in a canyon behind the town, with a medieval aqueduct, two old mills and the small Chiesa Madonna delle Due Rocche.
Castello Soprano e Castello Sottano
Two Arab-Norman fortifications from the tenth to thirteenth centuries on rock outcrops above the town, the visual frame of Corleone.
Chiesa Madre di San Martino
Mother church of the town, with canvases by Fra Felice da Sambuca and a marble Madonna del Soccorso of the Gagini school.
Centro storico
Sicilian inland-town layout of stone houses and a hundred churches, with the corso running between the two castle rocks.
Living here
Could you live here?
Corleone meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 10,231 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Bagheria, a city of 53,100, is 58 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 10,231, down 9.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Bagheria, 58 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €600 to €780 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.40 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 81% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Palermo airport (PMO), 1 h 30 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Palermo, 1 h 10 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, China and the Gambia, against 9% across Italy. There are 191 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 45% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Palermo province ranks 97th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Palermo, 36 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Palermo, 36 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 36 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sicily spends about €1,820 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €524 a year for water, on the Sicily average. In Palermo, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.26, a meal in a pizzeria €13.56 and a man's haircut €17.31.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
DON VITO
Mario Puzo took the name for Vito Andolini Corleone in his 1969 novel; the films followed in 1972, 1974 and 1990.
CIDMA
Italy's primary antimafia documentation center, opened in 2000 in the historic center to archive Cosa Nostra cases and victim testimony.
DUE ROCCHE
Year-round waterfall on the San Leonardo river behind the town, with a medieval aqueduct and two ancient mills in the canyon.
Common questions
- What is Corleone known for?
- Corleone is a town of 10,231 in the Palermo hinterland that gave its name to Mario Puzo's Don Vito and now runs Italy's national antimafia documentation center.
- Where is Corleone?
- Corleone is a comune in the province of Palermo, in Sicily, at 542 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Corleone?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Palermo (PMO), about 1 h 30 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Palermo to Corleone?
- About 1 h 10 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Corleone?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Corleone?
- Monreale, Ragusa and Modica.
- How many people live in Corleone?
- 10,231 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Corleone a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Corleone is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Bagheria, is 58 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 81% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 542 m
- Population: 10,231
- Surface area: 229.46 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Corleone appears in
Similar
Towns like Corleone
What all six share with Corleone: over 10,000 people
Monreale
Province: Palermo
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Ragusa
Province: Ragusa
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Modica
Province: Ragusa
both inland in Sicily · both hill towns
Caltagirone
Province: Catania
both inland in Sicily
Tempio Pausania
Province: Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
both hill towns
Erice
Province: Trapani
both inland in Sicily
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