" Guy de Maupassant in "La Vie errante", 1885, wrote: " if somebody might pass one day only in Sicily and asked: What should I visit? I would answer without hesitate: Taormina.
It is only a landscape, but a landscape in which you can find all that seems to be created on earth to seduce the eyes, mind and fantasy.
Where are the peoples who could make, today, things like these? Where are the men able in building, for the crowd pleasure, works like these?
Those men, the ones of a time, had soul and eyes different from the ours; in their veins, with blood, flowed something lost: love and cult for Beauty."

Taormina (205 mts on the sea level) - View from the harbour of Giardini Naxos

View of Taormina from the Greek Theatre

" Taormina is like a treasure chest of history: walking along its main street, Corso Umberto, and the maze of narrow staircased streets and small beautiful squares, you find Theatres and Gymnasium from the Greek Age; Odeon and Baths from the Roman Age; beautiful buildings in which the Arab and the Norman cultures melt together in a memorable sense of beauty; traces of the Byzantine domination and beautiful villas which belonged to the European aristocracy in the XVIII and XIX centuries.
All in the context of a small town on top of the hill of Monte Tauro, overlooking the coastline of the Ionian Sea. "

Parco Duca Di Cesaro' (The Public Gardens) - The gardens were the creation of Lady Florence Trevelyan in the late 19th century

La Grotta Azzurra (The Blue Cave) - Just a few hundreds metres off Isola Bella (Taormina Beach)

Il Teatro Greco-Romano (The Greek-Roman Theatre) - Built in 250 B.C., it has a capacity of 5600 spectators

" Taormina plays a fundamental role as one of the most important archaeological locations in Italy. In fact, the Greeks, fathers of Italian and European culture, settled their first colony in Italy exactly here in the Bay of Naxos, in 735 BC. Taormina is home to one of the most famous Greek Theatres in the world.
Here, in summertime the main events of the International Film, Music, Dance and Theatre Festival of Taormina Arte take place. "

                  Sicilian Flavours                                    Messina Gate (1410)                                      Casa Panarello                                       Vico Romano

Via G. D'Orville                                                               Via San Giovanni Bosco                                                         Via Fratelli Ingegnere

" Along with the different dominations that conquered Sicily, many important monuments and buildings were built in Taormina by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Swebians, the Normans, the Spanish, the French and the entire XIX European aristocracy have all left their "footprints" in Taormina in the form of beautiful buildings, monuments, churches, villas, parks and castles. "

                 The Cathedral Church (1360)                                              Catania Gate (1420)                                                    Corvaja Palace (980)

                      Ciampoli Mansion (1412)                                      Duca Di Santo Stefano Palace (1360)                                       Saracen Tombs (1035)

Via Bonifacio                                        Via Timoleone                                        Terracotta Shop                                     Antique Fountain

San Giuseppe Church (1670)                                       San Pancrazio Church (1541)                                      Ex-Sant'Agostino Church (1448)

Isola Bella (Taormina Beach) - Now days a nature reserve protected by the WWF

" Access to the beaches is very easy. From the centre of Taormina, in 2 minutes, a cable-car connects Taormina to the beaches. Isola Bella, the Bay of Mazzaro', the Bay of Giardini Naxos, the Beach of Spisone, those are among the most famous beaches in Italy. "

 Spisone (Taormina Beach)                                             Mazzeo (Taormina Beach)                                                            Marmaids Bay (Taormina Beach)

Mazzaro' (Taormina Beach) - Only two minutes away from Taormina downtown by Cable car

Naumachie (95 B.C.)                                                  Saracen Castle (1150)                                             The Roman Odeon (21 B.C.)

              Letojanni from the Greek-Roman Theatre                                                     The bay of Giardini Naxos with mount Etna from Taormina

Taormina covered by flowers at spring time

                Salita De Luna                            Vico Ascanio Marziani                        Vicolo Stretto                                                   Via Naumachia

Isola Bella and Capo Sant'Andrea (Taormina Beach) - A few minutes walking from Taormina-Mazzaro' cable car

Strolling around the town - Corso Umberto (The Main Street)

Isola Bella and Capo Taormina from Capo Sant'Andrea (Taormina Beach)

Piazza IX Aprile (The Main Square) with San Giuseppe Church and the Clock-Tower

Antiques Shop on Corso Umberto (The Main Street)

                              Arancini                                                                    Sicilian Granita                                                                Sicilian Cannoli

                        Martorana (Sicilian Marzipan)                                        Sicilian Cassata (Ricotta Cake)                          Paste Di Mandorla (Sicilian Almond Pastries)