Taormina (UK: /ˌtɑːɔːrˈmiːnə/ TAH-or-MEE-nə,[3] US: /-nɑː/ -nah, also /taʊərˈ-/ towr-,[4][5] Italian: [ta.

or
ˈmiːna]; Sicilian: Taurmina; Latin: Tauromenium; Ancient Greek: Ταυρομένιον, romanized: Tauroménion)
is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily,
Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian sea,
including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from
Messina in the north and Catania in the south. On 26–27 May 2017 Taormina hosted the 43rd G7
summit.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Ancient Tauromenion

1.2 Middle Ages

1.3 Modern age

2 Main sights

3 Culture and tourism

4 Cultural references

5 Events

6 People

7 International Relations

7.1 Twin towns and sister cities

8 See also

9 References

10 Sources

11 External links

History

Ancient Tauromenion

The area around Taormina was inhabited by the Siculi even before the Greeks arrived on the Sicilian
coast in 734 BC to found a town called Naxos. The theory that Tauromenion was founded by colonists
from Naxos is confirmed by Strabo and other ancient writers.[citation needed] Pseudo-Scylax writes that
it was a Greek city.[6]
The new settlement seems to have risen rapidly to prosperity, and was apparently already a
considerable town at the time of Timoleon's expedition in 345 BC. It was the first place in Sicily where
that leader landed, having eluded the vigilance of the Carthaginians, who were guarding the Straits of
Messina, and crossed direct from Rhegium (modern Reggio di Calabria) to Tauromenium.[7] The city was
at that time still under the government of Andromachus, whose mild and equitable administration is
said to have presented a strong contrast with that of the despots and tyrants of the other Sicilian cities.
He welcomed Timoleon with open arms, and afforded him a secure resting place until he was enabled to
carry out his plans in other parts of Sicily.[8] Andromachus was not deprived of his position of power
when all the other tyrants were expelled by Timoleon, but was permitted to retain it undisturbed till his
death.[9] Little is recorded about Tauromenium for some time after this. It is probable that it passed
under the authority of Agathocles, who drove the historian Timaeus into exile; and some time after this
it was subject to a domestic despot of the name of Tyndarion, who was contemporary with Hicetas of
Syracuse and Phintias of Agrigentum.[10] Tyndarion was one of those who concurred in inviting Pyrrhus
into Sicily (278 BC), and when that monarch landed with his army at Tauromenium, joined him with all
his forces, and supported him in his march upon Syracuse.[11] A few years later, we find that
Tauromenium had fallen into the power of Hieron II of Syracuse, and was employed by him as a
stronghold in the war against the Mamertines. (Id. p. 497.) It was also one of the cities which was left
under his dominion by the treaty concluded with him by the Romans in 263 BC.[12]

There is no doubt that Tauromenium continued to form a part of the kingdom of Syracuse until the
death of Hieron, and that it only passed under the government of Rome when the whole island of Sicily
was reduced to a Roman province; but we have scarcely any account of the part it took during the
Second Punic War, though it would appear, from a hint in Appian,[13] that it submitted to Marcellus on
favorable terms; and it is probable that it was on that occasion it obtained the peculiarly favored
position it enjoyed under the Roman dominion. For we learn from Cicero that Tauromenium was one of
the three cities in Sicily which enjoyed the privileges of a civitas foederata or allied city, thus retaining a
nominal independence, and was not even subject, like Messina, to the obligation of furnishing ships of
war when called upon.[14] The city, however, suffered severe calamities during the Servile War in Sicily
(134–132 BC), having fallen into the hands of the insurgent slaves, who, on account of the great strength
of its position, made it one of their chief posts, and were able for a long time to defy the arms of the
consul Publius Rupilius. They held out until they were reduced to the most fearful extremities by famine,
when the citadel was at length betrayed into the hands of the consul by one of their leaders named
Sarapion, and the whole of the survivors put to the sword.[15]

Roman Odeon constructed by the Romans in 21 BC for small performances frequented by the local
Roman elite

Tauromenium again played a conspicuous part during the wars of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily, and, from
its strength as a fortress, was one of the principal points of the position which he took up in 36 BC, for
defence against Octavian. It became the scene also of a sea-fight between a part of the fleet of Octavian,
commanded by the triumvir in person, and that of Pompeius, which terminated in the defeat and almost
total destruction of the latter.[16] In the settlement of Sicily after the defeat of Pompeius, Tauromenium
was one of the places selected by Augustus to receive a Roman colony, probably as a measure of
precaution, on account of the strength of its situation, as we are told that he expelled the former
inhabitants to make room for his new colonists.[17] Strabo speaks of it as one of the cities on the east
coast of Sicily that was still subsisting in his time, though inferior in population both to Messana and
Catana.[18] Both Pliny and Ptolemy assign it the rank of a colonia,[19] and it seems to have been one of
the few cities of Sicily that continued under the Roman Empire to be a place of some consideration. Its
territory was noted for the excellence of its wine,[20] and produced also a kind of marble which seems
to have been highly valued.[21] Juvenal also speaks of the sea off its rocky coast as producing the
choicest mullets.[22] The Itineraries place Tauromenium 32 miles from Messina, and the same distance
from Catania.[23]

Middle Ages

The tower of the 13th century Palazzo Corvaja showing the Gothic influence.

The Duomo dates from the 13th century

Casa Cipolla in Taormina dates from the 15th century.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Taormina continued to rank as one of the more important
towns of Sicily, and because of the strength of its position was one of the last places that was retained
by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) emperors; but it was taken by the Fatimids in 962 after a siege of 30
weeks. Taormina was renamed "Al-Mu'izziyya" in honour of Caliph al-Mu'izz (reigned 953–75). Muslim
rule of the town (see History of Islam in southern Italy) lasted until 1078, when it was captured by the
Norman count Roger I of Sicily. At this time Taormina and the surrounding Val Demone were still
predominately Greek speaking.[24]

After the fall of the Normans and of their German (imperial) heirs, the Hohenstaufen, Taormina followed
the history of Sicily under the Angevins and then the Crown of Aragon. In 1410 King Martin II of Sicily
was elected here by the Sicilian Parliament. Later Taormina was under Spanish suzerainty, receiving the
status of "city" in the 17th century.

In 1675 it was besieged by the French, who had occupied Messina. The troops sacked the town
destroying the top part of the Middle Tower that divides Taormina between the ancient Greco-Roman
section and the later medieval southern zone.
Modern age

Hotel Victoria at 81 Corso Umberto where Oscar Wilde stayed in 1898

Under the Bourbon dynasty of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, which lasted until 1860, Taormina did not
have a relevant role; however, it obtained an easier access when part of the Catrabico promontory was
partially cut and a seaside road connecting it to Messina and Catania was created. Eventually it received
also a station on the second-oldest railroad in the region.

Travellers, usually well-off northern European men on a sort of Grand Tour, brought Taormina, and
especially its ruined theatre, to international attention. One of the first was Patrick Brydone, who wrote
A Tour through Sicily and Malta, in a Series of Letters to William Beckford, Esq., of Somerly in Suffolk,
published in 1773. Soon afterwards Henry Swinburne visited; his Travels in the two Sicilies. 1777-1780
was published in 1783. Johann Wolfgang Goethetravelled in 1786, but did not publish Italian Journey
until 1816.

Following the Unification of Italy in 1860, a German landscape painter moved to Taormina. Otto Geleng
(1843-1939) was one of the first artists to capture the beauties of Sicily, and his exhibitions in Berlin and
Paris lured northern Europeans to see for themselves. He married an Italian woman and settled in
Taormina, renovating a palazzo into the first full-scale hotel to greet these visitors. In the 1870s, while
Geleng was mayor, his countryman Wilhelm von Gloeden took up residence in the town. He spent most
of his career as a photographer, of landscapes and of male nudes, both of which drew more attention to
Taormina. There is some speculation that the town was an early gentlemen's destination.[25] Capri had
a similar reputation, as tolerant of gay men and artists.

Starting from the 19th century Taormina became a popular tourist resort throughout Europe: people
who visited Taormina include Oscar Wilde, Nicholas I of Russia, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich
Nietzsche (who wrote his Thus Spoke Zarathustra there), Richard Wagner and many others.

In 1905, the English artist Robert Hawthorn Kitson, heir to Kitson and Company but driven from Britain
by homophobia, built a house in Taormina.[26] He commissioned Frank Brangwyn to design murals and
furniture for the Casa Cuseni. Alfred East also contributed.[27] The property, including extensive
gardens, was inherited by his niece Daphne Phelps just after World War II. She intended to sell, but
ended up staying, running the place as a pensione for half a century, with guests such as Bertrand
Russell, Roald Dahl, Henry Faulkner, and Tennessee Williams. In 1999 she wrote A House in Sicily about
life in Taormina in general and Casa Cuseni in particular.[28]
In 1907, the English architect C. R. Ashbee, a prime mover of the Arts and Crafts movement, came to
Taormina on commission from an old client. Colonel Shaw-Hellier set him the task of designing the Villa
San Giorgio,[29][30] Biographer Fiona MacCarthy judges it "the most impressive of Ashbee's remaining
buildings";[31] it is run as the Hotel Ashbee.

During the early 20th century, the town became a colony of expatriate artists, writers and intellectuals.
Charles Webster Leadbeater, the theosophical author, found out that Taormina had the right magnetic
fields for Jiddu Krishnamurti to develop his talents, so the young Krishnamurti spent part of 1912 in the
city.[32] Albert Stopford grew roses in his Edwardian garden; D. H. Lawrence stayed at the Fontana
Vecchia from 1920 to 1922. (He wrote a number of his poems, novels, short stories and essays, and the
travel book Sea and Sardinia.) Thirty years later, from April 1950 through September 1951, the same
villa was home to Truman Capote, who wrote of his stay in the essay "Fontana Vecchia." Jean Cocteau
and Jean Marais visited the place.[33] By this time Taormina had become "a polite synonym for Sodom",
as Harold Acton described it. Later, however, after the Second World War, Acton was visiting Taormina
with Evelyn Waugh and, coming upon a board advertising "Ye Olde English Teas” he sighed and
commented that Taormina 'was now quite as boring as Bournemouth'.

Icelandic writer Halldór Laxness, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, wrote most of his first
novel, Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír ("The Great Weaver from Kashmir"), in Taormina which he then praised
highly in his book of autobiographical essays, Skáldatími ("The Time of the Poet", 1963).

The 43rd G7 summit was held in the town on 26–27 May 2017.

Main sights

The Greek theatre Taormina

Palazzo Corvaja

Isola Bella

The present town of Taormina occupies the ancient site, on a hill which forms the last projecting point of
the mountain ridge that extends along the coast from Cape Pelorus to this point. The site of the old
town is about 250 metres (820 ft) above the sea, while a very steep and almost isolated rock, crowned
by a Norman castle, rises about 150 metres (490 ft) higher. This is the likely site of the ancient Arx or
citadel, an inaccessible position mentioned by ancient writers. Portions of the ancient walls may be
traced at intervals all round the brow of the hill, the whole of the summit of which was occupied by the
ancient city. Numerous fragments of ancient buildings are scattered over its whole surface, including
extensive reservoirs of water, sepulchres, tessellated pavements, etc., and the remains of a spacious
edifice, commonly called a Naumachia, but the real purpose of which it is difficult to determine.

The Ancient theatre of Taormina is built for the most part of brick, and is therefore probably of Roman
date, though the plan and arrangement are in accordance with those of Greek, rather than Roman,
theatres; whence it is supposed that the present structure was rebuilt upon the foundations of an older
theatre of the Greek period. With a diameter of 109 metres (358 ft) (after an expansion in the 2nd
century), this theatre is the second largest of its kind in Sicily (after that of Syracuse); it is frequently
used for operatic and theatrical performances and for concerts. The greater part of the original seats
have disappeared, but the wall which surrounded the whole cavea is preserved, and the proscenium
with the back wall of the scena and its appendages, of which only traces remain in most ancient
theatres, are here preserved in an uncommon state of integrity. From the fragments of architectural
decorations still extant we learn that it was of the Corinthian order, and richly ornamented. Some
portions of a temple are also visible, converted into the church of San Pancrazio, but the edifice is of
small size.

Other sights include the 12th-14th century Palazzo Corvaja, a 1635 Baroque fountain, the Church of San
Domenico, the Anglican Church of Saint George, and the municipal gardens (Giardini della Villa
Comunale).

Culture and tourism

Just south of Taormina is the Isola Bella, a nature reserve; and further south, situated beside a bay, is
the popular seaside resort of Giardini Naxos. Tours of the Capo Sant'Andrea grottos are also available.

The town of Taormina is perched on a cliff overlooking the Ionian Sea. Besides the ancient Greek
theatre, it has many old churches, lively bars, fine restaurants and antique shops. The Santuario
Madonna della Rocca is one such church. Located on the slope above the town, it commands an
impressive view of the coast and Mount Etna to the south, and is accessible on foot via the staired path,
Salita Castello. Taormina is approximately a forty-five-minute drive away from Europe's largest active
volcano, Mount Etna.

Cultural references

Taormina inspired the naming of 'Toormina', a suburb of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.[34]

The Cole Porter song "Where is the Life That Late I Led" from the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" references
Taormina.
A part of the movie The Big Blue (1988) was set and filmed in Taormina, where the main characters take
part in the no limits freediving World Championships.

The British songwriter Mark Knopfler evokes the town in his song "Lights of Taormina" in his 2015 album
Tracker.

D.H. Lawrence signed his poem "Snake" with the word "Taormina"—perhaps the location of his "petty"
encounter.

Events

Many exhibitions and events are organized during the summer in Taormina. The exceptional stage for
pop and classical concerts, opera and important performances often recorded by television (for
example, the ceremony of the Silver Ribbon Award, the Festivalbar, the Kore) is the Ancient Theatre.
Since 1983, the most important performances are realized by Taormina Arte, the cultural institution
which organizes a music, theatre and dance festivals.

Within the program of Taormina Arte there is the Taormina Film Fest, the heir of the Cinema Festival of
Messina and Taormina, dating from 1960, which for about twenty years has hosted the David of
Donatello Awards. During the Taormina Film Fest the Silver Ribbons are awarded, a prize created by
Italian Film Journalists.

Since 2005, in October, Taormina Arte has organized the Giuseppe Sinopoli Festival, a festival dedicated
to its late artistic director.

People

Tyndarion (278 BC), tyrant of Tauromenium

Andromachus, 4th century BC ruler of Tauromenium

Pancras of Taormina, sent to Sicily in 40 AD by Saint Peter as first Bishop of Tauromenium

Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856 in Wismar – 1931 in Taormina), German photographer who worked mainly
in Italy, best known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian boys. Resident from 1880

Pancrazio Buciunì (1879 - 1963), Gloeden's model, lover and heir

Gayelord Hauser (1895-1984), Nutritionist and author

Robert Hawthorn Kitson, (1873 in Leeds - 1947 in Casa Cuseni), British watercolour painter, resident
from 1899

Daphne Phelps (1911 – 2005), Kitson's niece and heir, a writer. Resident from c. 1947.

Carla Cassola (born 1947), actress and composer.

Francesco Buzzurro (born 1969), musician

Guido Caprino (born 1974), actor

Norma Murabito (born 1987), sprint canoeist

International Relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Iran Abadan, Khuzestan, Iran[35]

See also

List of Catholic dioceses in Italy

European archaeology

References

"Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Istat. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

"Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Istat. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

"Taormina". Lexico UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

"Taormina". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

"Taormina". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

Pseudo Scylax, Periplous, §13

Diod. xvi. 68; Plut. Timol. 10.

Diod. l. c.; Plut. l. c.

Marcellin. Vit. Thucyd. § 27.

Diod. xxii. Exc. H. p. 495.

Diod. l. c. pp. 495, 496.

Diod. xxiii. p. 502.

Sic. 5

Cic. Verr. ii. 6. 6, iii. 6, v. 19.

Diod. xxxiv. Exc. Phot. p. 528; Oros. v. 9.

Appian, B.C. v. 103, 105, 106-11, 116; Dion Cass. xlix. 5.

Diod, xvi. 7.

Strab. vi. pp. 267, 268.

Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 9

Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8

Athen. v. p. 207.

Juv. v. 93.

Itin. Ant. p. 90; Tab. Peut.

Loud, G. A. (2007). The Latin Church in Norman Italy. Cambridge University Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-
521-25551-6. At the end of the twelfth century ... While in Apulia Greeks were in a majority – and
indeed present in any numbers at all – only in the Salento peninsula in the extreme south, at the time of
the conquest they had an overwhelming preponderance in Lucaina and central and southern Calabria, as
well as comprising anything up to a third of the population of Sicily, concentrated especially in the
north-east of the island, the Val Demone.

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.

Bradford, Eveleigh. "Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873-1947) Artist, Patron, Exile". The Historical Society
for Leeds and District. Retrieved 6 October 2017.

Boswell, David M (28 January 2006). "Obituary: Daphne Phelps". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October
2017.

Phelps, Daphne (2000). A House in Sicily. ISBN 1860496482.

RIBA archive drawings

MacCarthy, Fiona. The Simple Life: C.R. Ashbee in the Cotswolds. University of California Press, 1981.
Most of chapter 7, "The death of Conradin"

MacCarthy, Fiona. The Simple Life: C.R. Ashbee in the Cotswolds. University of California Press, 1981. p
161

Ross, Joseph E. Krishnamurti The Taormina Seclusion 1912.

Edward Chaney (2014). The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the
Renaissance. Routledge. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-317-97367-6.

"A Village to Make Us Proud", The Coffs Coast Advocate

"Città gemellate". comune.taormina.me.it (in Italian). Taormina. Retrieved 18 June 2020.

Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–
1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

Media related to Castelmola at Wikimedia Commons

Castelmola travel guide from Wikivoyage

Official website

Taormina Arte official website

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Categories: Cities and towns in SicilyMunicipalities of the Metropolitan City of MessinaTaorminaCoastal

towns in SicilyAncient Greek archaeological sites in ItalyAncient cities in SicilyArchaeological sites in
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