The Sicily road-trip: Taormina


Travel Date: October 2017


About 90 mins drive from Mt. Etna is the coastal city of Taormina. I could tell you more about its history, the year in which Greeks arrived on the Sicilian coast and inhabited the areas around Taormina, but rather than check off sights on a list, we spent most of the evening drifting through Taormina's winding streets and just slowing down after 5 days of hectic sightseeing.
Taormina is certainly picturesque and has a spectacular ancient Greek theater with an even more spectacular view, a main street that winds past shops large and small and connects the 2 ancient doors in and out of the city and has its own ancient version of the gardens by the bay.
When driving into Taormina, the best place to park is by one of the two entrances into the town. We parked by the Porta Catania (Corso Umberto, 805, 98039 Taormina ME, Italy).

 

Porta Catania at the end of the street


With even the walk into Taormina boasting stunning views, we walked through the Porta Catania.
In ancient times, Taormina was protected by a circuit of walls which looked towards the town of Messina on one side and continued in a north-east direction before looking towards Catania on the other. These walls can still be seen in some parts today but also in the two furthest end gates of the town, called Porta Messina and Porta Catania.

The Corso Umberto I is the main street that connects these two gates and passes through the center and the Duomo and its square. The fountain in the square is Gothic and guarded by the status of the Minotaur, the mythological emblem of the city.

  



The Piazza IX Aprile is the main square in Taormina, with a wonderful view of the Ionian sea. The story goes that on 9th April 1860, mass in the cathedral was interrupted to announce that Garibaldi had landed on the far side of the island to begin his conquest of Sicily that would make it part of Italy. Though the news ultimately turned out to be false (Garibaldi landed a month later), the date was still memorialized in the name of this square.



 
 

Taormina's premier site, its most popular, is the horseshoe shaped Teatro Antico or the Greek theater, set overlooking a spectacular piece of coastline. Built in the 3rd century B.C. it still hosts some concerts today.



 




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