Taormina

Taormina's history dates to before Ancient Greece established its first colony on Sicily in 734 BCE in Magna Graecia; the Greek name for the city was Tauroménion, later Latinized to Tauromenium [1]. The present town of Taormina occupies the ancient site, on a hill that forms the last projecting point of the mountain ridge that extends along the coast from Cape Pelorus to this point [1]. The site of the old town is about 250 metres above the sea, while a very steep and almost isolated rock, crowned by a Norman castle, rises about 150 metres higher [1]. This is the likely site of the ancient Arx or citadel, an inaccessible position mentioned by ancient writers [1]. Portions of the ancient walls may be traced at intervals all round the brow of the hill, the whole of the summit of which was occupied by the ancient city [1]. Numerous fragments of ancient buildings are scattered over its surface, including extensive reservoirs of water, sepulchres, tessellated pavements, and the remains of a spacious edifice, commonly called a Naumachia [1].