Villagrazia, Residential district in Palermo, Italy.
Villagrazia is a district in the southwest of Palermo, lying between the city and the hills that face toward Monreale. It has an older village core surrounded by newer housing areas that have grown along one of the main roads leading out of the city.
The area first grew around a convent founded in the 15th century, which gave the settlement its early name. In the early 18th century, Marquis Giuseppe Fernandez built Villa Fernandez Crima, which helped draw further development to the area.
The name of the district shifted over time from Grazia Vecchia to Grazia Nuova and finally to Villagrazia, reflecting its passage from a rural hamlet to an urban neighborhood. Today older stone buildings stand next to newer residential blocks, giving the area a mixed, everyday character.
Villagrazia is reached from central Palermo along the Palermo-Sciacca state road and has its own interchange on the Palermo ring road. Getting around the district is easiest by car, as the older village center and the newer residential parts are spread out from each other.
The Casuzze hydroelectric power plant, built in the 1920s, sits within the territory of Villagrazia and is one of the few early industrial structures of its kind near Palermo. It still stands today and is a rare reminder of the area's early role in energy production.
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