Skip to main content
AIRPORT TRANSFER - Book now
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Please, insert the date
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input

Badia Vecchia in Taormina

Badia Vecchia - Taormina

The palace Badia Vecchia (Old Abbey) was built in the fourteenth century and was originally a tower in defense of the walls of Taormina.

According to some scholars, the building is called Badia because it was an Abbey, where lived Mother Abbess Euphemia, regent since 1355 of the Kingdom of Sicily.

The Badia Vecchia was restored in the fourteenth century, which led to the installation of numerous ornaments. For example you can notice the fine frame that divides the first from the second floor, or the long polychrome inlay obtained with the use of stones of different color (very similar to that of the Palace of the Dukes of S. Stefano).

The Ghibelline battlements, the mullioned windows of different style and the external staircase give to the old building additional elegance.

Badia Vecchia

Related articles

Palazzo Corvaja

Palazzo Corvaja - Taormina
Palazzo Corvaja is located in Piazza Badia, at the beginning of Corso Umberto, at right angles to the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The first part of this medieval palace was built in the 10th century, when Arabs conquered the city from Byzantine Imperium. It was a cube-shaped tower that was used for defending the town.  The tower was extended in the 13rd and 14th century assuming the current characteristic mix of styles: Arabic (the tower), Norman (the fifteenth-century hall where…
Read more

IX Aprile Square

Piazza IX Aprile - Taormina
Piazza IX Aprile is located right in the center of Corso Umberto. The square is known for the breathtaking view of the azure Ionian Sea and of the Mount Etna. Lined with pricey cafés and brimming with visitors and caricature artists, it's the best place to sit back with a cappuccino and enjoy the relaxed resorty ambience of Taormina. The square was named after the 9th of April, 1860, when mass in the Taormina cathedral down the street was interrupted to announce that Garibaldi had landed at Ma…
Read more

Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Taormina
The construction of the present church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria occurred after the Capuchins bought the previous church dedicated to the saint of Alexandria that was outside the walls (the current church of Sant'antonio da Padova). The certain date of this church construction is not known; we know that the ancient church of Santa Caterina, outside the walls, was sold to the Capuchin Friars in 1610. As an indicative date we have that which is carved on the tombstone of the ossuary that w…
Read more
Related Articles