Taormina is a beautifully situated city by the sea between Catania and Messina on the Sicilian east coast. The area has been a popular tourist destination since the 19th century, but Taormina’s history goes back much further. The Greeks came to Sicily in 734 BC, where they founded the city of Naxos, but the Taormina area was believed to be already inhabited at that time by the Sicilians. Sicily had become a Roman province after the First Punic War, and high-ranking officials from Rome and their families built houses in the style of their Roman mansions.

At the same time, large water reservoirs were established so that Taormina, in its mountainous position, could withstand long sieges. The city was an important provincial city, but after the fall of the Roman Empire, the city changed rulers several times between not least Byzantines and Arabs. After two uprisings against Arab rule in 962 and 969, the city was destroyed. It lasted a few centuries before Taormina was colonized again, but it never regained its former importance.

Especially after a rebellion against Spanish rule 1674-1678 made the situation for Taormina worse, and when the road between Messina and Siracusa was moved to the coast in the 18th century and thus no longer passed through Taormina, it was abandoned as an insignificant village. Taormina once again experienced an economic boom through tourism starting in the 19th century, and today there is convenient access to the sought-after beaches below the mountain, where the old center of the city is located.

One of the first tourists in Taormina arrived already in 1787. It was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who visited the place accompanied by Christoph Heinrich Kniep. He described Taormina and thereby marketed the city. Later, the painter Otto Geleng produced landscape paintings of Taormina, and they also made the place famous. Thanks to the mild climate, Taormina became a popular winter residence for several European aristocrats such as the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

When the Austrian Empress Elisabeth visited Taormina in 1866, the Taormina-Giardini railway station was considerably expanded, and the current Art Nouveau main building was erected. Later, many celebrities left their mark on the city, which became a resort for film stars such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and many others.

In addition to Taormina’s natural beauty, there are many sights to see and experience in the city. Taormina Ancient Theatre, Teatro antico di Taormina in Via Teatro Greco, is one of the largest in Sicily. The theater was built by the Romans in the 100s BC on top of a smaller Greek theater on site. Originally it was a theatre for stage plays, but with an expansion into a larger arena in the 100s AD gladiator fights were also held here. The dimensions were 120×50 meters and 20 meters in height. Atypical for a Roman theatre, it was partly built into the rock, but this was due to its past as a Greek structure. The theater is quite well preserved, and next to it is the Antiquarium, which is an archaeological museum.

A smaller theater was also built in Taormina in Roman times. It was the so-called Odeon in today’s Via Don Bosco. The remains of the Odeon were discovered in 1892, and it is now believed that the theater was used as a theater for the city’s leaders and as a meeting place for discussions between them.

You can walk to the cathedral at Piazza Duomo square as well. It was built in the 15th century on the ruins of a church from the early Middle Ages. The cathedral has three naves, and you can see several side altars on the way to the main altar. The portal and the rosette in the facade were created during a renaissance renovation in 1638.

There are also several interesting secular buildings in Taormina. The palazzo Palazzo Corvaja (Corso Umberto, Via Fratelli Ingegneri) is a remarkable building, as it features a preserved 11th-century defensive tower. The tower stands as one of very few examples of Arab fortress towers in Europe. Another mansion is the Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano (Corso Umberto), which was the residence of the Spanish noble family De Spucches, who were Dukes of Santo Stefano.

When visiting Taormina, you should also take a stroll down Corso Umberto, the city’s business street. Apart from the defense tower and Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano, it is at each end of Corso Umberto that you can see Taormina’s two preserved city gates, Porta Messina and Porta Catania.