Map of the City of Taormina and Points of Interest
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If you are taking the cruise ship excursion tour (recommended), you will
probably enter through Messina Gate (1).
Note:
The bus will leave you off at a point just below the city gate and you will
have to walk up a
very steep incline. Be sure to wear your most comfortable
walking shoes. From there, do your own walking tour to the
areas you find most interesting (which is just about everything!). Corso
Umberto is pedestrianized and ideal for strolling and window-shopping.
1 Messina Gate
(Your
entry point)
2 Corvaja Palace -
(Tourism Bureau)
3 Vittorio Emanuele square
(Historical architecture)
4 Teatro Greco Street
(to the Amphitheatre)
5 Grand Hotel Timeo
(Premier Hotel across from Amphitheatre)
6 Greek-Roman Amphitheatre
7 Odeon
(Ruins in Vittorio Emanuele Square)
8 Corso Umberto 1
(The main street--promenade)
9 Naumachies
(The ancient gymnasium)
10 Town library (In
Piazza Aprile)
11 Tower Clock
(In Piazza Aprile)
12 Ancient Abbey
(called Badia
Vecchia)
13 Ciampoli Palace
(Mansion)
14 Cathedral
(called Duomo of St. Nichols)
15 Fountain
(in the cathedral plazza)
16 Catania Gate
17 Duke of St. Stephen's Palace
(Mansion)
18 St. Domenico square
19 San Domenico Palace Hotel
20 Town garden
21 Madonna della Rocca
22 Castle
Messina and Catania Gates
In ancient times Taormina was protected by a circuit of walls with a triple fortification system, which from the north on the side looking towards Messina continued in a north-east direction and ended in the west on the side looking towards Catania. Traces of these walls can still be seen today not only in the center 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.
Walk up steep hill to Messina Gate Porta Messina Gate from Inside Porta Catania Gate
Gates to the City
Porta Messina (entrance) , 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.
Through the (1) Messina Gate you will enter the town center, now reserved for pedestrians. You can walk the Corso Umberto I (which is the town promenade) from one gate to the other, and to every point if interest in between. As the promenade gently climbs up to Porta Catania, you will pass elegant shops, restaurants and cafes. Behind this main street you will find an intricate network of side streets and unexpected sights and smells (like the sweet scent of marzipan fruits and almond paste wafting up from backstreets kitchens).
Just beyond the gate lies the (2) The Church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria.
St.
Catherine's Church 
The church was built of the
ruins of a temple depicted to Zeus Serapis (notice the remnants of the old
wall incorporated into the building's left side.) The main facade is
graced with a doorway made of Taormina stone, framed on each side by niches
containing statues of saints.
Inside the church the intermediate floor with
the organ can be seen above this doorway. Between the other two minor altars
on the side of the church there is a fresco picturing Teofano Cerameo,
Taormina's last Bishop during the 11th century. A low railing in wrought
iron separates the rest of the church from the main altar which is lavishly
decorated with polychrome marble slabs and an Ionian column on each side,
like those on the external doorway. There are eight angels on the altar,
four on each side, and a bust of God giving his blessing. A fresco picturing
the torture of St. Pancras can be seen on the right of the main altar.
Interior of Church of Santa Cateroma d' Alessandria Catherine's Church near Gate Messina Gate
The Palazzo Corvaja
The Palazzo Corvaja (Tourist Office) The Piazza Vittorio Emanuele
The Palazzo Corvaja, opposite the church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria takes the name from the Corvaja family, one of the most ancient and noble families of Taormina, which possessed it from 1538 to 1945. The first part of this wonderful medieval palace was built by the Arabs during their period of rule. It was a cube-shaped tower that was used for defending the town. Later Palazzo Crovaja, the seat of the Sicilian Parliament was added to the tower. After the Second World War it was abandoned, but later renovated and recovered, maintaining the characteristic mix of styles: Arabic (tower), Norman (15th century Parliamentary Hall), and Gothic (windows). (3) The Piazza Vittorio Emanuele This square occupied the site of the ancient Roman Forum.
Behind the tourist office, opposite the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, is the Roman Odeon, a small theater partly covered by the church of Santa Caterina next door. (Be sure you don't miss this!) The Romans constructed this theater around A.D. 21. Much smaller than the Greek theater and with similar architecture, it was discovered in 1892 by a blacksmith digging in the area. A peristyle (colonnade) was also discovered here, perhaps all that was left of a Greek temple dedicated to Aphrodite.
A small theatre built for Emperor
Octavian
Now turn left on (4) Teatro Greco Street and head for the Greek-Roman Amphitheater. Along the way you will pass many souvenir shops on this narrow pedestrians road, with ....a lot of steps and hills! Charming ambiance.. houses with staircases, balconies, planters, and flowers galore!
We visited many of the shops on our way to the Greek-Roman Theatre
Directly opposite the Greek-Roman Theatre is the Premium Grand Hotel Timeo. I doubt if any competitor can boast more of the ambiance, history and scenery that abounds this accommodation. We did not stay here, of course, because we were on a cruise, but if you get a chance, do go through this hotel to the balcony that overlooks the gardens and sea. (Note: The hotel was recently sold-closed-and going through refurbishments. But do go up and look at the gorgeous views from its patios ).
Hotel is across from the Greek-Roman Theatre
The hotel was sold to Orient-Express and it is now closed for refurbishing and will re-opened for the 2010 summer season.
Aerial shot of Hotel and amphitheatre
GREEK-ROMAN THEATER (The Ancient Theatre)
The question whether the Ancient Theatre is Greek or Roman has always been open to debate among experts and critics. Probably it was built by the Greeks and restructured and widened in the Roman age. All of their disputes would end if they remembered Taormina's origins as a Greek "Polis" and the fact that each and every ancient Greek city had its own theatre where they performed tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides and comedies by Aristophanes, just to name the most famous authors.
The Greek-Roman Theatre in Taormina is the second-largest in Sicily after the one in Siracusa. The Greeks hewed the theater out of the rocky slope of Mount Tauro; the Romans remodeled and modified it greatly. And it apparently took decades to do this. It is fifty meters wide, one hundred and twenty meters long and twenty meters high, which means that about 100,000 cubic meters of stone had to be removed.
Further evidence that the Theatre is of Greek origin is in the well-cut blocks of Taormina stone (similar to marble) below the scene (stage) of the Theatre. This would be typical of the ancient Greek building technique.
The theatre is divided into three main sections: the scene (which is partially preserved in its original form), the orchestra and the cavea.
The scene is obviously where the actors used to perform. This most important part is only partially preserved in its original form. The stage wall is 30x40 meters. Two side components closed the scene off from the cavea, preventing the passage to the audience. The roof of the components had two big terraces, still existing. According to reconstructions by experts, the scene was decorated with two series of columns of the Corinthian order, recognizable due to the shape of the capitals and their acanthus leaf design (the acanthus is a wild Mediterranean plant).
The orchestra of the theatre was the flat clearing in the center which separated the scene from the cavea. This area was for the musicians, but the choruses and dancers also performed there. The word "orchestra." today means a musical band, which comes from this part of the Greek theatre.
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There is now a large ten-meter long portion missing in the centre of the scene, supposedly caused by attacks during the wars. This serious damage to the theatre makes it nevertheless even more evocative due to the magnificent panorama (the bay of Naxos and Mount Etna) which can now be seen.
The cavea (steps)
The cavea, is the series of steps, from the lowest to the highest at the top, where the spectators were seated. The first and last semicircular steps were 62 and 147.34 meters long respectively. The steps were carved out of the rock and, in places where there was none, they were built in masonry. The cavea was divided into five sections called "diaẓmata" by the Greeks and "praecinctiones" by the Romans, both meaning enclosed zones. And these were where the audience used to sit. The first few rows off the cavea were reserved for the authorities, while the upper part was reserved for the women. The populace stood on the terraces above, (which didn't have much communication with the interior parts of the theater). An ample curtain protected the audience from the sun and the rain. The theatre is thought to have been able to seat about 5,400 spectators.
The eight tight staircases descended and ended at the wall, where eight doors opened, through which one could reach the covered corridor (Today, we might call it a "lobby."). The niches in this corridor contained statues which are still visible today..
As mentioned, no one is sure of when the Theatre was actually erected. Those who believe it was built by the Greeks say it must have been around the middle of the third century A.C., when Hiero was the tyrant of Siracusa. But due to the theatre's structural characteristics, some say it was erected by Roman engineers to be used exclusively by the Greeks. This would explain all of the Greek inscriptions inside the theatre.
Today, renowned for its unique acoustics, it is still used for open air performances. The ancient Theatre is still one of Taormina's main attractions. As since it is still very practical and effective, the theatre seats audiences for important Italian cinematographic events, such as the "David di Donatello" award; and an international festival entitled "Taormina Art," lasting the whole summer period, is held there with cinema, theatre, ballet and symphonic music reviews.
