Taormina

Exploring Taormina

I started each day with breakfast at Bar Pirandello, just 300 meters toward the center from where I was staying. Some other travelers would be there, but the majority of the clientele was local. You order at the bar and find a seat, they bring out your order when it's ready.

Cornetto e doppio caffè or a croissant and double coffee. That's coffee in the Italian sense, what an English speaker would call espresso.

The Sicel people had a settlement here before the Phoenicians and then the Greek colonists arrived. There's more on the deep history on the later page about ruins. As for modern Taormina...

Taormina's first hotel was built in 1864. Italian unification, the Risorgimento, wasn't complete until 1870, but it had started on Sardinia and extended through Sicily around 1860. By 1864 the unification process was compressing the remaining Papal territory around Rome and was expanding in the far northeast.

Royalty came to Taormina. Kaiser Wilhelm II of German first visited in 1896, returning often. Other members of the interconnected and dangerously inbred European royal family began visiting, sometimes under false names. From the U.K., Edward VII in 1906 and George V in 1924. Edward VIII surely worked in a stop on his way to and from his visits with Hitler.

"Baron" Wilhelm von Gloeden arrived from Germany opened a photographic studio in Taormina. He claimed to be a Baron but wasn't, and claimed to have been born in a specific castle, the "Schloss Volkshagen near Wismar", which never existed.

Von Gloeden specialized in erotic photos of boys, and took a local 14-year-old boy as his long-time lover when he arrived in town. Homosexuality was illegal in Germany, the U.K., and some other northern European countries, so the local tolerance of von Gloeden and his photography led to Taormina becoming a destination for homosexual men.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and two generations of the Krupp family, the leading steel and arms merchants in Europe, were major patrons of Gloeden. Friedrich Alfred Krupp had become the subject of scandalous newspaper stories about a wealthy foreign industrialist involved in homosexual orgies in Italy. His wife received anonymous letters, possibly including compromising photographs, and she asked the Kaiser to take action. He refused, and Krupp had his wife committed to an insane asylum for being a pest about his pecadillos. The stories continued and then Krupp suddenly died in what is suspected to havev been his suicide. All that shines a somewhat different light onto the First World War.

Taormina became a fashionable international resort after World War II. Intellectuals, authors, playwrights, and actors came to Taormina — John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, Roald Dahl, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Bertrand Russell, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich, and others. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton spent parts of both of their honeymoons in Taormina.

Corso Umberto is the main pedestrian street through the center of the old town. It runs from Porto Messina at its northeast end to Porta Catania in the southwest. Both those are gates from the old city walls, each named for the city beyond it. Piazza Vittorio Emanuale is a short distance inside Porto Messina. It was the site of the Greek agora and then the Roman forum. Now Via Teatro Greco branches off there toward, obvious, the Greek theatre. Piazza IX Aprile, commemorating Taormina's role in the Risorgimento, is near the middle of Corso Umberto, with great views out to sea and on up the mountain.

Cosro Umberto and Via Teatro Greco are lined with restaurants and shops, many of which are elegant high-end clothing and jewelery shops while others have all the tourist kitsch you could want. Tour groups march through those streets daily. Their guides walk at the front of the pack, talking into a headset and gesturing dramatically. The group lags behind, wearing lanyards with their names, their tour company, and a receiver with which they could listen with their earpieces.

Some drift away to make their multiple daily phone calls back home. Many of the Americans have no understanding of time zones or the spherical nature of the Earth, but they're keen to learn what time it is back home. They are routinely shocked to learn that if they call from Italy in the mid-morning, it is still several hours before daybreak in North America. How do I know this? Because they shout into their phones.

Other things I saw rather than heard. Elderly women sunburned a brilliant shade of magenta sitting down for dinner at 16:30, three to four hours before an Italian would think of eating dinner. Americans wearing their hats into churches.

So why was I here? Just like my visits to Santorini and Mykonos, I was in Taormina for the ancient history and the vulcanology!

Chiesa di San Pancrazio

The saint known to the Greeks as Pankratios of Παγκράτιος, Pancrazio to the Italians, and Pancras as in the London train station to English-speakers, is the patron saint of Taormina. Chiesa di San Pancrazio a church dedicated to him, is a short distance outside Porto Messina. Here's a view from the gate toward the church, in the distance at center.

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His hagiography describing his life, and his multiple martyrologies describing his dramatic death, are all purely legendary. There was no such person. Nonetheless, the Vatican preserves what it describes as the largest portion of his relics, while a smaller portion are kept at Mount Athos. The relic trade has been strange.

The legend says that he was born in Antioch in Cilicia, the modern Adana, Turkey. He and his parents traveled to Jerusalem during Jesus's ministry, and later were baptized in Antioch. He traveled across Anatolia to Pontus, on its north coast on the Black Sea, and withdrew to a cave. There, he was discovered by Peter and sent to Sicily in the year 40 CE to be the first Bishop of Tauromenium, today's Taormina. The local pagan opponents of the new religion promptly stoned him to death.

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Temple of Isis and Serapis

Almost certainly urban, at least in the Hellenistic period, the sanctuary fell within the northern sector of the city. Its temple survives incorporated into the church of San Pancrazio, which has not affected its southern and northern walls of isodomic blocks, still clearly visible. The distyle temple in antis, on a high podium, is generally dated between the late 3rd and early 4th century BC. Two inscriptions, one in Greek from the 2nd century BC (IG,XIV 433), the other in Latin from the 1st-2nd century AD (CIL,X 6889), allow it to be attributed to the cult of the two Egyptian deities. To this epigraphic documentation, the statue of a priestess, datable to the 2nd century AD, adds vivid testimony to the ancient sacred landscape.

Per Blue Guide, a 4th century BCE temple to Isis, Serapis, and Zeus.

The first of these two large paintings in the nave depicts the martyrdom of Saint Procopius, whose statue is outside, to the right of the main door. He was Bishop of Taormina when the city was conquered by the Arabs of the Fatimid Caliphate in 962. Their leader, Ibrahim ibn Ahmed, had Procopius tortured and his heart removed because he would not renounce Christianity and convert to Islam. He and his clerics were tortured and then beheaded.

The second painting, seen above, depicts the martyrdom of Bishop Nicone and his 90 monks, killed in the Soimandra district near Castelmola "during the persecutions against Christians", presumably also during the Arab conquest of Sicily.

The annual Taormina film festival began in the summer of 1954. Famous screenwriters, film directors, and actors began to visit. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton spents parts of two of their honeymoons in Taormina.

13th century Palazzo Corvaja beside the church.

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

The construction dates back to the late 13th century, over pre-existing Norman-Swabian structures.

The right wing of the building was built at the beginning of the fifteenth century to allow the meeting of a parliament (1411) that would decide who should be entrusted with the Kingdom of Sicily.

It was principally built at the end of the 14th century and is named after one of the oldest and most prominent families of Taormina, which owned it from 1538 to 1945.

The origins of the palazzo incorporate an early Norman fortress dating from the 12th-14th century, which in turn was constructed on Roman foundations. It was subsequently added to over various periods up until the 15th century. Its main body is a Norman-style tower, and it has an inner courtyard where the Gothic influence can be seen in the arched windows and doorways. A 13th century staircase leads up to the first floor and an ornamental balcony which overlooks the courtyard.

The ground floor houses the tourist information office.

The 17th century Chiesa di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria is plain outside with white stucco Baroque decoration inside. A very ruined 16th century panel-painting of the Matyrdom of Saint Catharine is above the high altar, and there's a 15th century marble statue of her. Remains of a Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE) Greek structure are visible beneath the nave.

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https://www.traveltaormina.com/en/churches/church-saint-catherine-taormina.html

In the church, to the right hand, there is an exquisite marble statue of Saint Catherine. The Saint holds in her right hand the palm branch, symbol of her martyrdom and with the other hand shows an open book reminding us that her superior intelligence combined with diligent study left her exceedingly well-versed in all the arts and sciences, and in philosophy. She also seizes with her right hand a sword that in this case doesn’t want to represent the one used to behead her, but rather, the faith in God she had, capable to defeat evil, the prince of darkness who, laying at her feet, tries to push away the point of the sword from his throat. Saint Catherine is standing on the spiked wheel from the ruined engine used in her martyrdom. On the pedestal you find the date MCCCCLXXXXIII (1493,) and different bas-relives showing Catherine standing between two spiked wheels and two executioners, her scourging, two seraphim’s heads and the coat of arms of the city of Taormina. It is clear that this statue had to be found first in the ancient church of Santa Caterina which was given to the Capuchins, and then was brought to the new church.

Vicolo Stretto, only 52 cm wide, is famous as one of the narrowest streets in Italy. And one of the silliest sights of supposed interest. It's between number 133 and 135, on the west side of Corso Umberto.

Piazza IX Aprile has great views of the sea and Etna. Cafes and bars line its inland side. The date refers to 9 April 1860 when the people of Taormina rebelled against Bourbon French rule of Sicily, part of the Risorgimento or the unification of Italy. Taormina was among the first city in Sicily to do so.

The 17th century church of San Giuseppe (Joseph) is often used for elaborate weddings and as a film set.

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https://www.traveltaormina.com/en/churches/church-st-joseph-taormina.html

The church of San Giuseppe in Taormina was built in in the Baroque style between the late 1600s and the early 1700s.

The clock tower over the south exit of Corso Umberto probably dates back to the 12th century. Some of its stones were parts of Greek structures.

The Duomo was built in the 13th century. The fountain on the square is topped by what appears to be a two-legged pregnant female centaur, which is probably an imaginative Baroque-period assembly of fragments of earlier statues.

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https://www.traveltaormina.com/en/churches/duomo-the-cathedral-taormina.html

The first construction of the Duomo or Cathedral of Taormina dates back to the thirteenth century on the ruins of a church dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari. Then, It was rebuilt in the fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth century.

The building looks more fortress than religious institution. This impression is accentuated by the construction made entirely with large stone blocks and finished with battlements along the whole perimeter of the building.

The interior is a Latin cross church with three naves and three apses. The nave is supported by six columns of pink marble of Taormina with the capitals with leaf motif and fish scale. It is thought that these may come from the greek-roman theater of Taormina. The ceiling is characterized by large wooden beams with carved shelves with Arab motifs rendered in Gothic style.

The Wehrmacht were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany: army, navy, and air force.

Albert Kesselring had reached the rank of Generalfeldmarschall or Field Marshal in the Nazi German military. In November 1941 he became Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief South, the overall German commander in the Mediterranean theatre, which included North Africa. He established his headquarters in the Hotel San Domenico, a former convent still operating as a luxury hotel.

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

During World War II, it was the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht command, and on July 9, 1943, the feast day of its patron saint, Bishop Pancras, Taormina suffered two devastating bombing raids by Allied aircraft, destroying part of its southern section and a wing of the San Domenico Hotel, where a meeting of the German High Command was taking place.

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

Taormina was the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht Command in Sicily during World War II. On 9 July 1943, the feast of the patron saint Pancrazio, two separate Allied bombardments killed over 100 civilians and caused considerable destruction in parts of the southern end around Porta Catania and the old Cuseni quarter. The German High Command was holding a meeting in the San Domenico hotel and although it was hit by bombs and sustained damage, only Saint Agnes's church within the hotel was completely destroyed. The villa of Wilhelm Von Gloeden which fronted the hotel was razed to the ground.

A plaque memorial to the people who lost their lives in the raids is located in Sant'Antonio Square outside Porta Catania.

The city was liberated by British troops of 50th Northumbrian division on 15 August 1943.

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

After the war, Kesselring was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death for ordering the murder of 335 Italian civilians in the Ardeatine massacre, and for inciting and ordering his troops to kill civilians as part of reprisals against the Italian resistance movement. The sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. A political and media campaign resulted in his release in 1952, ostensibly on health grounds. He published his memoirs, Soldat bis zum letzten Tag ("A Soldier to the Last Day"), in 1953. Kesselring accepted the honorary presidency of three veterans' organisations: the Luftwaffenring, consisting of Luftwaffe veterans; the Verband Deutsches Afrikakorps, the veterans' association of the Afrika Korps; and, most controversially, the right-wing Der Stahlhelm before dying in 1960.

Allied detention report for Albert Kesselring.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Stahlhelm,_Bund_der_Frontsoldaten

By the 1920s, Der Stahlhelm had become a mass movement with hundreds of thousands of members, ideologically aligned with völkisch nationalist currents: anti-Marxist, anti-Semitic, determined to reverse the Treaty of Versailles, ...

As a cultural and political formation, Der Stahlhelm was instrumental in undermining democratic legitimacy and laying the ideological groundwork for the rise of the Nazi regime by which it was eventually absorbed. After the Second World War, a Stahlhelm network was re-established in West Germany. Following a history of supporting fringe nationalist parties, the last functioning local association dissolved itself in 2000.

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

By the end of the war, for many Italians, the name of Kesselring, whose signature appeared on posters and printed orders announcing draconian measures adopted by the German occupation, had become synonymous with the oppression and terror that had characterised the German occupation. Kesselring's name headed the list of German officers blamed for a long series of atrocities perpetrated by the German forces.

The Italian government refused to carry out death sentences, as the death penalty had been abolished in Italy in 1944 and was regarded as a relic of Mussolini's Fascist regime.