The world is definitely freaking out over the new location chosen for the hit HBO series, The White Lotus.
After the first season set in Maui, the second season set in Sicily just wrapped its final episode. The setting of Sicily made for the perfect backdrop, as the active volcano Mt. Etna quite literally serves as a metaphor for the drama bubbling up under the surface of the picturesque backdrop of the story.
Among the actors emerge the amazing Jennifer Coolidge, the sexy Theo James and the award-winning Murray Abraham. Director and screenwriter Mike White.
A series seasoned with la dolce vita, lust and mysteries in a unique setting: from Taormina to Palermo via Noto and Cefalù.
Discover the Real-Life Locations in The White Lotus, Season 2:
The main location is the White Lotus Resort which is actually the San Domenico Palace in Taormina, managed by the Four Seasons group. The building was built in the 14th Century as a convent, and overall it hosts 111 rooms and suites, incredible views, and luxurious courtyards and gardens that provide a feeling of escape unlike anywhere else. That restaurant where the cast always dines is no scummy hotel restaurant, it’s a Michelin-starred Principe Cerami by Etna-born chef Massimo Mantarro. The beach club where the guests spend their days is La Cambusa.
The villa where Harper and Daphne spent the night together in Noto is Villa Elena, a former monastery transformed into an exceptional home by the famous French architect Jacques Garcia.
The episode where the Di Grasso family has lunch with Portia is the famous Castello degli Schiavi where one of the famous scenes from The Godfather was set. It’s the home and hideout of Michael Corleone, where his first wife is killed.
Where Jennifer Coolidge finally gets her Oscar-worthy scene reacting to “Madama Butterfly” is the Teatro Massimo opera house in the city center of Politeama.
Finally, the Villa in Palermo where Tanya and Portia are guests of Quentin is Villa Tasca.
Villa Tasca, once called Villa Camastra, is surrounded by an 8-hectare park with citrus groves and trees of all kinds. Built in the sixteenth century, the garden that surrounds it dates back to nineteenth-century Sicilian Romanticism. Over time, this villa has hosted personalities such as Goethe and Wagner, who composed the third act of Parsifal here in 1881.