Things to Do in Taormina, Italy

Quick facts: This promenade street stretches for about 800 meters and connects two city gates through the very heart of the old town. Along it stand palaces from the 15th and 16th centuries, and from its end there is a panoramic view of Mount Etna rising over 3,300 meters into the sky.

Highlights: At the very end of the promenade, near Porta Catania, there is a spot from which, on clear days, you can see the coast of Calabria on the other side of the Strait of Messina. Local guides claim that it was precisely this horizon line that inspired Goethe during his journey through Sicily in 1787.

Quick facts: This island, only 320 meters long, shelters 130 thousand square meters of gardens and palaces from the 17th century. Only a few families live on it, and the famous tetras, a type of eel, is still fished in the surrounding waters today.

Highlights: In the shade of the pines on the northern part of the island hides a small stone amphitheater where a concert is held every year accompanied by waves crashing against the rocks, and the audience sits literally on steps carved into the living rock. At sunset, when the 300-year-old gardens are illuminated by golden light, the number of visitors halves, and the air fills with the scent of lemons and bougainvillea flowers.

Quick facts: With a height of over 3,300 meters, this is the highest active volcano in Europe, and the last major eruption occurred in June 2023. Its circumference of over 140 kilometers also makes it the largest active volcano on the continent.

Highlights: When you stand on the edge of the crater at the top, you are standing on some of the youngest soil on the planet, because some of the rocks beneath your feet are no older than a few years. If you are lucky, you will hear a muffled rumbling beneath the surface and see smoke slowly rising from the cracks, a sight that cannot be compared to anything else.

Quick facts: The palace was created by merging a 10th-century section with a Gothic facade from the 15th century, and its carved wooden ceilings are adorned with stars and Arabic inscriptions. The Parliament of Sicily held sessions in this building in 1410, making it one of the most significant political sites on the island.

Highlights: On the second floor hides a beautiful multicolored 15th-century fresco depicting the encounter between a saint and the devil, which visitors often overlook. The stone dome with four arches from the 12th century is a rare sight in Sicily and for centuries served as a lookout point with a view of the entire bay.

Quick facts: The cathedral was built on the site where a temple dedicated to the god Serapis once stood, which is still visible in the layout of the rooms. It is decorated with the pink stone of the ruins of the ancient Odeon, so every glance reveals layers of history.

Highlights: No one notices it from the outside because it was renovated in the 14th century, but inside there is a hidden column of red granite from the Roman gymnasium, all worn away by centuries of touch. The strangest thing is that one of the three windows on the apse is made of milky glass from a destroyed Roman complex, so light pours through it like a jet of water.

Quick facts: More than 200 niches in a wall over 120 meters long formed the backdrop for artificial naval battles in Roman times. The water came through an aqueduct from Mount Tauro, and today only the lower row of arches testifies to the former grandeur.

Highlights: When you stand in front of this wall, pay attention to the lower row of arches, which is still original from the Roman period, while the upper part is a medieval restoration. Imagine the water that filled the space in front of you while the audience watched naval battles live, completely opposite to the dry stone square you see today.

Quick facts: This Roman theater from the 1st century AD can hold about 3,500 spectators, and from its seats it offers a view of Mount Etna and the sea. Unlike the larger Greek theater in the city, this smaller building remained buried until 1892, when it was accidentally discovered during construction works.

Highlights: When you climb to the highest rows of seats, you can see how the ancient arches merge with the medieval walls that lean directly against them. This is the only place in Sicily where Roman arches and Norman fortifications are intertwined in such a direct and visually striking way.