MARIANNA CO. LTD - Charming Sicily / Taormina Resort

S I C I L Y
charming, ancient and attractive

T a o r m i n a R e s o r t

- History
Archeologist affirm that people have lived in the area since the 8th century BC. The first settlers who established a town were Greeks.
The city got its name Tauromenion in 358 BC, and from that moment it earned a great importance in the geopolitics of the region.
But Taormina has also earned its fame as one of the most visited vacation resorts in Sicily. Travelers have arrived since the 18th century. It offered a refuge to those homeless affected by the suppression of the religious guilds in 1866.Taormina became magnet for European aristocrats and artistic elite when in 1868 Goethe visited it.
As soon as you arrive in Taormina, you will feel the magical, mythical atmosphere spread all around which has enchanted visitors from all over the world for years and years. Settled on a hill of the Monte Tauro, Taormina dominates two grand, sweeping bays below and on the southern side, the top of Mount Etna, the European highest active volcano, often capped with snow, offering to the visitors a breathtaking, dramatic and memorable view over almost one hundred miles of Mediterranean sea.

Taormina really seems to be born as a tourist resort since past times, when ancient people like the Sicels, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards chose it as their residential site thank to its favourable position, mild climate and magic atmosphere. Nowadays visitors can still find fine examples of Taormina's golden times: the splendid Greek Theatre, the Roman "Naumachiae", the 13th century Cathedral of Saint Nicolo, the 14th century Palazzo Corvaja, the 16th century Palace of the Dukes of Saint Stefano, the public gardens, the "Badia Vecchia" (Ancient Abbey) and many others.

The resort was first publicised by a trio of German artists : in 1787 J.W.Goethe discovered the beauties of Sicily and, in particular, of Taormina. He wrote the world known novel "Italian Journey", in which he describes the beauties of this land and its people and pronounced Taormina a "patch of paradise". The German painter Otto Geleng rose interest in Parisian art galleries exhibiting his paintings about these magical landscapes. His contemporary, the young Prussian photographer Wilhelm von Gloeden settled down in 1880 and made Taormina famous to all conservative European cultural clubs with his artistic portraits of nude shepherd boys with the volcano Etna on the backstage.

Since then many important celebrities visited Taormina, electing it as their "escapade place” from chaotic city life. Patrik Brydone D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, Alexander Dumas, Anatole France, Andre Gide, Paul Klee, Guy de Maupassant, Luigi Pirandello, John Steinbeck, Gustav Klimt, Elio Vittorini, Oscar Wilde, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms spent happy moments here. In more recent times movie, theatre and music celebrities such as Ingmar Bergmann, Francis Ford Coppola, Leonard Bergman, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Federico Fellini, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, Gregory Peck, Marcello Mastroianni, Elisabeth Taylor, Woody Allen have spent pleasant and memorable holidays in the Mediterranean pearl.

Since the opening of the first hotel in 1874, Taormina has become one of the world top tourist destinations where visitors can experience a perfect combination of old times charming atmosphere, preservation of history and culture, an elegant and lively way of life to be enjoyed in relaxing walks through the old town pedestrian areas.

The tourist has a lot to do and see: top level art performances at the Greek theatre, several painting exhibitions held in local palazzos and churches, fine elegant shopping along the famous

"Corso Umberto" with its classical music cafes and pastry shops.

Or visiting local art museums, taking naturalistic walks in the surrounding countryside, golfing at the nearby 18-holes green, enjoying the fantastic beaches at easy reach, where the mild Mediterranean climate allows to practise all water sports as swimming, scuba diving, sailing, windsurfing, or just sunbathing for nearly eight months a year and even more.

For those looking for the world known Sicilian cuisine, the town offers a wide choice of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias, pastry-shops, bars, cafes, pubs and for any taste and budget. You won't find many fast food : Sicilians aren't really crazy about them !

Go and see why…

Going through the city -

about the most interesting places to visit…

Messina Gate and Catania Gate
In ancient times Taormina was protected by a circuit of walls with a triple fortification system. Traces of these walls can still be seen today not only in the centre of the city where the clock-tower stands, but also at the two furthest ends of the city where there are two entrances, commonly called

Porta Messina and Porta Catania.

Porta Messina, restored at the beginning of the 19th century, was named Porta Ferdinanda when it was opened in 1808 by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. There is a tablet commemorating the occasion on the top of its arch.
Porta Catania on the other hand is the end result of various changes and restorations, the last of which were performed in 1440 by the Aragonese. The Aragonese coat-of-arms sculpted in relief above the city coat-of-arms in the centre on the top part of the gate

The Fountain in Piazza Duomo

This Barocco style fountain, built in 1635, is in Taormina marble with three concentric steps as its base. On each of the fountain's four sides there are some small columns supporting basins; mythological ponies overlook the basins and fountain water flows out of their mouths. The eastern base of this large fountain contains a fourth basin, larger than the others but no longer used since it was a watering-place for animals.
Three mythological characters resembling Tritons stands in the middle of a basin with their arms crossed over their heads so as to support another basin decorated in low-relief; a round base inside this basin holds a basket of fruit on the top of which stands Taormina's coat-of-arms. The city's coat-of-arms normally pictures a male centaur but in this case it was turned into a female centaur and a two-footed one at that

The San Domenico
This Dominican monastery, now the San Domenico Hotel, was the third monastery in Taormina. Its origins and history are related to Damiano Rosso, a Dominican friar. After becoming a friar he donated all he owned to the Dominican order in 1430. His antique mansion was therefore turned into Taormina's Dominican monastery.
The "San Domenico" was the first or perhaps the only castle existing in Taormina during the middle ages. Some centuries later the estate was given back to Damiano Rosso's heirs who turned it into a hotel. The only part of the former monastery to remain open to worship was the chapel which, however, was destroyed by bombings on

July 9, 1943.
The congress hall of the hotel was built on the ruins of the chapel, conserving the remains of the minor altars. The bombings did not damage the rest of the hotel nor the 50 cells which were later turned into luxurious hotel-rooms.

The beautiful cloister and magnificent park, which overlook the sea and have a view of Mount Etna, are the most charming parts of the hotel; a second wing, added to the hotel in the 193Os, harmoniously reflects the architectural style of the rest of the building with many authentic art treasures as well as sacred vestments and vessels and paintings by well-known artists.

The Clock-Tower

The clock tower, one of the city's gates
The clock-tower acts as an entrance gate to the part of the city that historians call "the 15th century area".
Dating back to the 12th century, the tower was razed to the ground during a French invasion under Louis XIV in 1676.
What can be admired today is a reconstruction by the people of Taormina in 1679, who added a large clock to the tower. The first tower was built on the ruins of an older defence wall which would have dated back to the origins of the city, in other words the 4th century BC

The Gymnasium (Naumachiae)
The Gymnasium in Taormina was in the area called "Giardinazzo", where the so-called
Naumachiae ruins can still today be seen.

The "Gymnasium" was usually a construction with a rectangular perimeter, surrounded on its four sides by an arcade supported by columns. The clearing in the centre The Clock-tower, was for games and gymnastical exercises. In fact, it was the place where young men were educated from both a civil-religious and operative point of view. The athletes who participated in the Olympic Games were trained in the Gymnasia.
In Taormina the only remaining wall of the antique Gymnasium rests on a double row of well-cut steps in Taormina stone which form the base of the wall. There are 18 niches with round arches and 18 other smaller rectangular niches.
The name "Naumachiae" (from Greek meaning "sea battle") improperly given to these ruins is probably attributable to the fact that there is a large reservoir on the remaining wall, which used to be a water supply for the Gymnasium and a reserve for the whole city

The Public Gardens

The city gardens, named after the Duke of Cesaro , were donated by the Cacciola-Trevelyan family during the 192Os.
Inside, there is thick vegetation and a typically Mediterranean array of hedges and flower-beds with cobbled paths which lengthwise connect the almost three hectares of park. An avenue lined with olive-trees in memory of the fallen during various wars runs among precious trees of various species, some of which are rare and extraordinarily beautiful.
In the centre and on the north-east end of the gardens, there are some characteristic pagoda-style towers with arabesque designs, made of bricks and edged with stone. Florence Trevelyan, an English noblewoman, had these towers built so as to study the birds since the was a keen ornithologist. Relics from the two World Wars are on show in a few clearings and a war monument to the fallen can be seen near the natural "Teatro di Verzura" (Greenery Theatre).

Cathedrals

Greek Theatre

Known as the Greek Theatre, Taormina's historic theatre owes much of its present appearance to the Romans, the Greeks' successors in Sicily. Designed with an unsurpassable backdrop of blue sea, coastline, distant smoking Etna, and inland mountains, the theatre was begun by the Greeks in the third century BC. In the first century AD, when Taormina was a significant Roman town, the Romans adapted the theatre to suit their more barbaric spectacles, stripping out seating to make more room for gladiatorial shows. Nowadays, you can wander around the theatre complex: the stage and backstage areas, as well as panoramic viewpoints up on the crags behind, each one breathtaking due to the theatre's position on a rocky spur of land extending towards the sea, far below. In the summer an arts festival (Taormina Arte) takes place here.

We highly recommend SICILY VISION TOUR , which gives you the opportunity to visit the most interesting places in Sicily: Catania & Eastern Sicily , Mount Etna , Palermo, Messina , Tindari, Cefalo, Monreale, Mondelo, Montepelegrino, Agrigento. The tour includes: 7 full days accommodation in 3 / 4 star hotels, on full board (with wine during meals), traveling in luxury coaches and with guides in five languages.

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This selection and special offers for staying in Taormina and surroundings for sure will meet all your expectations for comfort and relaxation.

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