Taormina 2010 >> The most complete independent tourist city guide

Before speaking about the origins of Taormina, it is doubtlessly worthwhile mentioning those of Sicily . Due to its triangular shape, Sicily was once called Trinacria meaning "Three Capes": Peloro, Passero and Lilibeo, which of course were its three corners. Anthropologists almost all agree that the part of Sicily to be inhabited first was the west since utensils of the Palaeolithic era have been found in the areas surrounding both Palermo and Trapani. The first people to settle in Sicily were the Sicani from a district to the north of Valencia in Spain. The Sicani led a peaceful existence, which is more than what can be said of the Siculi who came to Sicily from the ltalian peninsular.

The Siculi were many in number and possessed weapons. They knew of the existence of bronze and iron and were well-organized. They had a new and powerful means of making war: the horse. They quickly defeated the Sicani, driving them towards the west of the island. This separation has been perceptible throughout the centuries until the present times. Agriculture and industry were their livelihood but they also traded with foreigners, the first of whom being the Phoenicians. But why did they initially trade only with them? At that time the "frightful" sight of Mount Etna in eruption, the terrible currents of the Strait of Messina and the whistling winds of the Sicilian Channel had all played their role in strengthening the belief that Sicily was inhabited by ogres and monsters. But what about Taormina? And what about the Greek colonizers? According to a suggestive legend, the first Grecian to set foot on the shores of Naxos was Teocle. He was on board a ship whose boatswain had not cooked a victim's liver well before offering it to Neptune, god of the sea, who was angered so much that "he made the waves of the sea rise and hit the fragile vessel". All on board drowned except one, Teocle, who succeeded in clutching a piece of wreckage until he was carried by the waves towards the bay. Neptune saw the shipwrecked sailor but spared him. That was when Taormina made its appearance in world history. No one is sure that Teocle really ever existed nor that it was his real name but one thing for sure is that a Grecian arrived on the shores of Schiso. And that same man, fascinated by the beauty of those places, went back to his homeland and succeeded in convincing some of his people to come and settle in Sicily. Teocle's name reappears during the foundation of Lentini and Catania. In any case when Teocle landed in Sicily it was the year 736 B.C., the first year of the eleventh Olympic Games. The "embryo" stage of Taormina's life lasted from 736 to 425 B.C. Nothing more is actually known of that period. Then, in the year 403 B.C. troubles began with Dionysius, tyrant of Siracusa and of the whole of Sicily, who conquered Taormina after two attempts.

After Dionysius died, Taormina had a period of great splendour when Andromache, whose son was Timaeus the philosopher, was elected head of the town. Reliable information on this man dates back to the year 358 B.C. That was the year that saw the birth of the unique Hellenistic society that Taormina once was. The Siracusa rule was followed by a period of Roman dominion. The conquest of Sicily was the Romans' first move outside the Italian territory of that era. Taormina also became a stronghold for the slaves who hadrisen against Rome, even though the Romans had a special regard for the city granting it more privileges than the other Sicilian colonies.And as the years went by Taormina became more and more famous. During the Middle Ages Taormina had the same fate as the rest of Byzantine Sicily in trying to withstand one Moslem attack after the other. At the end of the 9th century it was looked upon as the capital of Byzantine Sicily. After the city was conquered by the Saracens in 902, its people attempted to revolt time and time again in spite of their rivals from nearby Messina who tried to subdue them. Taormina also took part in the rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers and protected the Aragonese. In 1410 the city became the seat of the Sicilian Parliament. Taormina remained loyal to the Spaniards even though these sold the city more than once. It was under French occupation in 1675 before being occupied once again by Spain under Phillip V. It was the Bourbons' turn in 1734 although their dominion only lasted until 1861 when Italy was united.

In the year 969 Tauromenium suffered its third and most terribie invasion by the Saracens. Al-Moezz, the Saracen Califf, renomned for his meanness, ordered the destruction of the city, including its monuments, as a punishment for the peopie of Taormina who had resisted them for five years. In February 1078 Count Ruggero, whose elder brother was Roberto, both sons of Tancredi d'Altavilla, led all his troups to the ramparts of Taormina. Ruggero had restored peace all over Sicily by driving out the Moslems. Only Taormina remained; he had conquered Trapani just the year before. The town was besieged. There were not many Moslems but it is said that they held out for three months until their supplies of food, water and hashish ran out. After conquering Taormina, Ruggero d'Altavilla started behaving like many other invaders and became notorious for causing destruction, plunder and massacres.

Taormina, already tried by the barbarity of the Saracens, was given its finishing stroke by Ruggero the Norman and suddenly stopped appearing in the political and military scenes of which it had been a great protagonist throughout the history of Sicily. Taormina was no longer an independent centre, a guiding city, an invincible fortress because its life was linked to its walls, its agora, its Theatre and its Gymnasium. Once these monuments had been almost completely destroyed, the city lost all of its vitality .But there were some things that could not disappear: its extraordinary geographical location, its magnificent landscapes and its splendid climate, as well as the wonderful colours of its sky, sea, slopes, countryside, trees and flowers. The Normans ordained Taormina a seat of tourism for these reasons and it has since been a centre for congresses and meetings, for visits and stays, acquiring all the characteristics of a real tourist resort. It would be more correct, however, to say that Taormina was born touristic because many years before the Normans, the Siculi had chosen it as their home city. And after them the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Saracens, in other words all its conquerors, inhabited Taormina for long periods and not only because of political vicissitudes. In any case,

Taormina's first important tourist was Johann Wolfgang Goethe who dedicated exalting pages to the city in his book entitled "Journey to Italy". But perhaps Taormina is famous as an international tourist centre thanks to Otto Geleng, a young red-haired Prussian painter. This man arrived in Sicily at the age of 20 in his search for new subjects for his paintings and, on his way through Taormina, was fascinated so much that he stopped there. Geleng began to paint everything that Taormina offered: corners, colours, flowers, trees and landscapes that had never been seen. When his paintings were later exhibited in Paris, none of the critics nor the visitors could believe that the young Prussian had only copied from the places and not imagined them. At that, Geleng challenged them all to go to Taormina with him, promising that he wouid pay everyone's expenses if he was not telling the truth. He went back to Taormina, created the first hotel out of a noble mansion, now called the Timeo Hotel, and that was that: those paintings reflected the reality of absolutely unique natural wonders. Years later another German, Wilhelm von Gloeden, had his photographs distributed all over the world, especially those of nude boys adorned with crowns of laurel which made Berlin's upper classes go into raptures. Taormina had become a resort that everyone loved to visit