From Eremo San Felice the walk continues to Bagheria.
The name of the town suggests a semitic or arab influence and is possibly derived from Bayharia, Baharia, and Baarìa in Maltese (‘Baħrija’). The etymologically meaning is “of the sea” or “related to the sea”, probably because its proximity to the sea. The word “baħri” is semitic and refers to a sailor and the verb “baħħar” means “to sail” or “to navigate” the seas.
It became more established as a community in the mid-17th century when the Prince of Butera and former Viceroy of Sicily, Giuseppe Branciforti, built a large villa and established the region as a vacation location for the Palermitan upper class. Villas like the fortified Villa San Marco, with angled bastions and a drawbridge, soon followed and the area grew economically further in this direction during the Savoyard (1713–21) and Habsburg (1721–30) eras and continuing for several decades afterwards.
Probably as a result of the town becoming a ‘tourist’ destination, Bagheria also became a preferred stop for foreigners on the Grand Tour in Sicily. Some of the influential or distinguished people who undertook the Grand Tour of Sicily, stopping in Bagheria included Johann Wolfgang Von Geothe and Karl Friedrich Schinkel among others.
From Bagheria the walk continues to and ends the Sicilian segment in Palermo following the .gpx route.