TAORMINA 5 SENSES

Taormina is like a flowered balcony, one of many that you can see in its streets and alleys.

You’ll love memorable views, landscapes, scents, delicious and evocative artifacts, perched churches. Discover the multi-sensory pathways that inhabitants will give you as a gift of welcome and hospitality.

Welcome!

TOP FIVE TO SEE

1. WONDERFUL LANDSCAPE FROM PIAZZA IX APRILE

   In the city center, in piazza IX Aprile, you can look a wonderful landscape: from Mount Etna to the sea that hugs the coast, the serenity of the sky. To act as a curtain the square are the former church of St. Augustine, of Gothic style, and the Church of St. Joseph, the seventeenth-century, which dominates the top of a staircase. From the square, little, you will access to the oldest part of the city through the Porta di Mezzo, on which stands the Clock Tower.

2. GIARDINI NAXOS

   Garibaldi passed by Giardini before reaching the coast of Calabria. During summer, its seaside is a point of reference for tourists and citizens. In the morning you go around and discover the beach, the cafès and the souvenir shop. By night Giardini Naxos becomes alive with its restaurants and pubs.

3. CHURCH OF MADONNA DELLA ROCCA

   The view from up there, will leave you speechless. The church carved into the rock in the twelfth century (hence the name of Madonna della Rocca) and later restored in 1600 is a place where culture, legend and art are intertwined. Next to the Sanctuary of S. Maria della Rocca there was a small monastery (of the order of the Basilian), now abandoned, in which religious retreated to pray and do penance as a hermit: the view, the sublime, is facing the Peloritans, Castelmola and Mount Etna.

4. ANCIENT GREEK TEATHER

   Since the fifties, the theater was used as an outdoor play structure for theater, concerts, ballets, awards, festivals. Cave house with a scene that has for background the Ionian Sea and Etna, is an unforgettable sight and indispensable. Sit on the steps, stop to admire the sky, immerse yourself in the multisensory a show or a break, will make your eternal love with this wonderful compendium of art and history

5. THE PUNIC SHIP UNDER THE TIP OF CAPO TAORMINA

   If you are diving, let’s go to discover Roman ships, sunk more than 2000 years. A little farther on, on the bottom, you will find the entrance to a cave full of worms, shrimps, tiny fish, and sea creatures.

TOP FIVE TO TASTE

1. PASTA WITH RICCI

   Sicily is a taste of a table rich in dishes. The taste of the first dishes is extolled from the savor of a dish of pasta with fresh fish, for instance with ricci. Can the goodness of Sicily be crammed in one bite? Yes, on a splendid terrace of Taormina.

2. MESSINA MEAT ROLLS

   They’re great. It is a recipe that you should not only taste but also learn and prepare even when you return home.

3. OCTOPUS SALAD

   Fresh, colored and tasty. The Mediterranean cuisine is also a dish of octopus salad seasoned with parsley and bark of lemon. It is summer flavor to be tasted in a restaurant by the sea.

4. CASTELMOLA ALMOND WINE

   Despite its origins and who thought this up, we tell all: taste it. You can not do without it because the almond wine is a real treat for your taste buds. You drink it again and again. And yes, thanks to the hospitality of the hosts, could go as gifts to your loved ones several bottles of this delicious flavored wine.

5. SWORDFISH “ALL’AGGHIOTTA”

   That is the triumph of swordfish: golden breaded and pan-fried, then fried with onions, green olives, pitted and chopped pine nuts, sultanas the capers, chopped garlic, celery reduced to small pieces, basil, salt, and pepper.

TOP FIVE TO SMELL

1. THE FRAGRANCES OF THE FLOWERS IN THE BALCONIES

   In Taormina you have to observe what is in front of you, but also there are precious treasures which you will be enjoyed walking upside: they are the rich balconies overflowing with fragrant flowers.

2. FRESH FISH AT MARKET IN PORTA MESSINA.

   Probably the truest sense of Taormina and surroundings is suspended in the rarefied atmosphere and its territories. Come back with your feet on the ground, though. Indeed, walk through its streets. It will be the intense scents of the fish market to delight you and to give you a steady welcome on the Island.

3. SMELL OF WINE IN VIA MORGANA

   Is it not true luxury sitting in a wooden little chair and enjoy a good glass of local wine? Smell, also, the almond wine.

4. SMELL OF WARM BRIOCHES IN THE MORNING

   Probably the best way to start the day. If you’ll be late or you will be woken up for a morning jog or run you wish to see the sunrise, start the morning with sweetness, flavor, and fragrance like at home.

5. SEA BREEZE

   Everywhere you’ll go, the spirit of Taormina is seafaring. Besides the trappings, the worldliness, the music evenings, aperitifs and gala dinners, the common denominator is the cool embrace of the Sicilian sea.

TOP 5 TO LISTEN TO

1. THE SOUND OF NATURE

   Discover the wonderful panorama and listen to the sounds of villa…what a relaxing experience! You will perceive the sound of the wind, the musicality of treetops, the birds chirping and all the natural music of a place that seems to be timeless.

2. THE SHOUTING OF THE BOATMEN

   You won’t regret a boat ride, among smiles, anecdotes and naturally the warm reception of the fishermen. Enjoy the coast of the Isola Bella and enter the Blue Cave and the Cave of the Shell. Bring with you your camera and be prepared to immortalize the show.

3. VOICES IN THE STREET

   From the morning until night, there’s always a crowd. Very crowded during summer, quieter in the rest of the year. Walking along the main street or in the hidden alleys, listen to the voices of tourists and citizens.

4. THE SOUND OF THE WAVES

   Yes, we are romantic. You will realize it thanks to the inhabitants and their warm hospitality. We recommend you to take a break from the frenzy and to take a seat by the shore to feel the sound of the sea.

5. THE GREEK THEATRE

   The summer in Taormina is synonymous with great concerts in the theater. A mix of history and music for an unforgettable show: the landscape of the caves to the sunset, the sounds of the history together with the melodies of the international artists, and all around you the rhythm of summer.

TOP 5 TO TOUCH

1. PRECIOUS EMBROIDERY

   Taormina is embroidery to be caressed. A crocheted tablecloth on a rich table, a crocheted top to be worn at the sunset while drinking a fresh mojito.

2. COLDWATER FROM FOUNTAINS IN CATHEDRAL SQUARE.

   The special feature is that the water that comes out of the fountains in the square in front of the Cathedral is … always cold.

3. THE MARBLE INLAID IN THE ALTAR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN PANCRAZIO

   If the church is beautiful, it will be even more wonderful to touch the altar of the church.

4. THE ROCK WALLS OF THE CHURCH OF MADONNA OF THE ROCK

   Touch its walls, built-in lava stone.

5. LAVA MANUFACTURED

   Jewelry, vases, and ornaments good to look, to wear and to touch.

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