Taormina
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Taormina (anc. Tauromenium) (ME): A commune (204m) in the province of Messina. Area: 13 km˛. Population: 10,863 (2005e).
History: Ancient Tauromenium was founded in 403 BC by Dionysius I to replace the destroyed Naxos. In 358 BC, it received a colony on Naxian Greeks planted there by the tyrant Andromachus. Andromachus warmly welcomed Timoleon when he land at Tauromenium and supported him in his efforts to free Sicily from the other tyrants.
Tauromenium was an early supporter of the Roman republic for which it received great benefits. During the period of the Roman Civil Wars, it unfortunately threw its support to Sextus Pompey when the latter seized control of Sicily. Octavian punished the city in 35 BC by exiling the population. A new colony was settled there and Tauromenium flourished for centuries thereafter.
In AD 902, the original city was finally destroyed by the Saracens, who soon rebuilt it. In 1078, the Norman Count Roger I captured the place.
Points of Interest:
Religious Monuments:
Cathedral: Dating to the 13th century, it sits on the site of an earlier basilica. Much of the surviving structure dates to restorations in the 15th and 16th centuries. The main west door was created in 1636.
Church of Sant’Agostino: Dating from 1448, it has a fine Gothic doorway. It is now the site for the Library.
Church of Sant’Antonio: Dating from the 15th century, the structure has a fine doorway. It suffered damaged in July 1943 from bambs.