Taormina

Visiting Taormina

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https://www.thatstaormina.com/item/byzantine-tombs-taormina/

The area of the Byzantine tombs of Taormina was discovered during construction work on the channeling of the water carried by the City of Taormina along the Via Pirandello in 1996.

According to the latest figures the dating of the tombs was expected to reach the late imperial age or Byzantine. Also coming from the cemetery precious gold kept in the medal of Syracuse and shown to the citizens of Taormina during the inauguration of the Museum of Badia. These findings are witness that Taormina has been home to one of the oldest Christian communities of the island.

Per Blue Guide, Byzantine tombs are below the former convent of Santa Caterina.

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http://lpsphoto.top/en/sicily/taormina-piazza-san-pancrazio

In front of the church in 1990, the remains of a structure that was originally also attributed to the Byzantine period were discovered. As suggested by archaeologists, this building served as a bathhouse and was named Terme di San Pancrazio.

The structure has two semicircular pools, as well as fragments of a mosaic floor. Subsequently, after studying the technology of brickwork, the structure was attributed to the Middle Roman period. The purpose of the building is also questionable, as archaeologists have not been able to find traces of a heating furnace.

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Brought to light only in 1943, the Naumachie is the remains of an old Roman wall, 130 meters long, with 18 niches that surrounded the Gymnasium. Built in the 1st Ct BC, it is, after the Greek theatre, the oldest structure in the town.

The name Naumachie, meaning "the sea battle", was wrongly given to the structure due to the big water basin found here. However, the basin wasn't used to stage the big sea battles but was just a reservoir used as a water supply for the Gymnasium and the city.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naumachia

A naumachia (in Latin naumachia, from the Ancient Greek ναυμαχία/naumachía, literally "naval combat") was a mock naval battle staged as mass entertainment by the Ancient Romans. The staging would typically occur in a specially-dug basin, also known as a naumachia.

The Roman Odeon was built on an ancient temple of Aphrodite. Odeon from 100 BCE, temple from 250 BCE.

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Much smaller than the Greek Theatre , the Roman Odeon, or "small theatre" was built by the Romans when Taormina became a military colony in the year 21 B.C. under Caesar Augustus Octavian, the first Roman emperor.

It was a stage for musical and literary presentations, which were performed only for the elite of the city. The Odeon was a covered theatre with a capacity of less than 200 people.

lt was found accidentally on June 5th 1892 and until that moment no one had even suspected it existed

The Odeon is directed towards northeast. It was built with clay bricks and is divided into three main parts: the scene, the orchestra and the cavea.

The scene of the Odeon consisted of the stylobate (base) and the peristyle (colonnade) of a Greek temple, some say dedicated to Aphrodite. Close to the scene there is a room reserved to the actors.