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 ...

On the square, just in front of the Cathedral, is situated the fountain of Piazza Duomo. The fountain was built in 1635 in the Baroque style, is also called "4 fountains" because the 4 small columns supporting basins which are located at the corners of the central basin; mythological ponies overlook the basins and fountain water flows out of their mouths. The central part consists of two basins. Above the two centrak basins, there is the Minotaur, half human and half horse, which is the embl...

The Saracen Castle (Castello saraceno) is situated in an elevated position above Taormina, at about 397m high. Most probably it was the site of the antique acropolis of the Greek town of Taormina. The Romans and later the Byzantines must have strengthened the site. In 902 AD the town fell to the Muslims after a siege of 2 years. They rebuilt the castle into its present form with a trapezoid plan adapted to the shape of the rock and crenellated walls. You can get to the castle via a staircas...

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 floo...