Legends and myths
Tauromenium means residence on the Taurus, the mountain where the city was built by Greek people.According to legend, however, the place was inhabited by a Minotaur or, better still, by a Centaur namedTaurus, as a figure in ancient coins of the city, to which is attributed the foundation and the first name ofthe city. Another […]
Opera
No place like Sicily can better evoke our mythic past. The Romans, the Greeks and the Phoenicians have leftin these places the trace of their passage. The great stone-made theatres of Taormina and Siracusa haveinspired artists for over 2000 years and every summer these romantic and dramatic settings welcomeopera lovers from all over the world […]
Cannoli
Cannoli, tubes of crunchy pastry filled with sweet ricotta cream, are a distinctly Sicilian specialty, datingback to the Arab occupation of the island in the early Middle Ages.Cannoli are indeed always fresh in Sicily. Entering a pastry shop you must necessarily ask for “cannoli filledupon request”. As all Sicilians know, more than 15 minutes of […]
Lady Florence Trevelyan
Florence Trevelyan, cousin to Queen Victoria, arrived to Taormina in 1884 at the age of 32. She bought IsolaBella in 1890, a rocky outcrop only attached to the mainland by a narrow sandy path off the coast belowTaormina, built a house and established a garden there. In among the native Mediterranean plants, sheplanted non-native trees, […]
Sicilian Ceramic Heads
Around 1100 AD, when Sicily was ruled by the Moors, a beautiful girl was living in seclusion and spent herdays cultivating flowers on her balcony. One day a young Moor passing by saw her, decided he had to haveher and entered the house so to declare his love. The young girl, surprised by such a […]
Taormina beaches
The cable car starting from Porta Messina carries you down to Mazzarò beach that is a typical Italian pebblebeach, ranked with umbrellas and chairs for rent. You can rent a paddle boat to explore this andneighboring coves, including Isola Bella. Not far from Mazzarò beach, past the headland Capo Sant’Andrea, there is Isola Bella, a […]
The Alcantara Gorge
Located about 20 km from Taormina, the gorges are real canyons made of black lava walls up to 50 metershigh. Within the grooves, the toning and crystal clear waters of the river Alcantara run surrounded by anunspoiled landscape, with rare flora and fauna. While Sicilian legends attribute the creation of the gorge to volcanic eruptions […]
Isola Bella
Isola Bella is a small island that was a private property until 1990, when it was bought by the Region ofSicily, being turned into a nature reserve, administrated by the Italian branch of the World Wide Fund forNature. There is a narrow path that often connects the island to the mainland beach. The island has […]
Etna
Etna is the largest volcano in Europe and one of the most active volcano in the world. In Greek Mythology,the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder andking of gods, and the forges of Hephaestus were said to also be located underneath it. The majortiy […]