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Taormina
53km
(33 miles) N of Catania, 53km (33
miles) S of Messina, 250km (155
miles) E of Palermo.
The city of Taormina came into existence when it was founded
by a tribe known as the Siculi,
and ever since then has been
conquered by different races, one
after the other. First came the
Greeks, then in order
Carthaginians, Romans, Saracens,
French, and Spanish. Taormina has
a lot of people to thank for
making it a famous tourist
attraction. Goethe must have been
its first tourist, he arrived
in1787, and the description of his
trip in his book “Journey to
Italy” encouraged other Germans
to follow. Among these was a red
haired Prussian, Otto Geleng. He
came to Taormina at the age of 20
and recorded its attractions in
his painted landscapes. These
landscapes were exhibited in Paris
and that was enough. Almost
everyone who saw them wanted to
see if they were for real, whether
Taormina was really that
beautiful.
Yet another German, Wilhelm von Gloeden, came and
photographed not only the town but
also nude boys crowned with laurel
wreaths. This caused another rush
to Taormina from all over Europe.
Von Gloeden's photos have become
world famous and some of them are
printed in official tourist
literature to this day. They form
the foundation for one of the most
enduring legends of Taormina.
Souvenir shops all over still sell
these pictures which, thought of
as shocking in their day, appear
tame and even innocent ,going by
today's standards.
After von Gloeden's photographs appeared in print, a crowd of
celebrities came to see what all
the excitement was about. Truman
Capote, Tennessee Williams,
Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford,
Rita Hayworth, and Greta Garbo all
these stars came to see for
themselves the beauty of Taormina.
Garbo used Taormina as a holiday
retreat from 1950 until her last
unexplained arrival in 1979, she
always came in disguise, sometimes
as "Harriet Brown”. Garbo
and many of the other stars stayed
at a villa on the road to
Castelmola owned by Gayelord
Hauser, the celebrated dietitian.
As the years passéd, another
generation of stars started coming
and among this new galaxy were
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard
Burton, Cary Grant, and the woman
who turned Grant down, Sophia
Loren.
Built in the fourth century BC, Taormina stands at the edge
of a cliff overlooking the Ionian
Sea, and as a backdrop it has the
famous active volcano, Mount Etna.
This most beautiful town in all of
Sicily is also blessed with a mild
climate, and seems to exist only
for the enjoyment of thousands
upon thousands of tourists who
gather here for dining,
bar-hopping, shopping, and
enjoying the nearby beaches. The
railroad tracks to the city lie
beside the sea below the city, and
are connected to it by bus
services.
International tourists fill the main street, Corso Umberto I,
from April to October, but after
that, Taormina gets a bit empty.
In spite of the crowds and the
money that descend on the city in
summer, Taormina has remained
charming, with much of its
medieval character intact. It is
replete with friendly piazzas and
palazzi dating from the fifteenth
to the nineteenth century. There
are innumerable restaurants and
the stores sell everything from
fine antiques to cheap trinkets.
There is always something to do on Taormina, adventure sports
perhaps? – Like climbing Mount
Etna or walking to the Castelmola.
Or just
take a trip to Syracuse. In
summer you can stroll on the
beaches below the town, and at
night you can enjoy the jazz and
disco or just spend time in a
local tavern or restaurant.
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