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THE MONUMENTS OF TAORMINA - HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ITINERARY
THE BYZANTINE MADONNA The Byzantine Madonna or ‘not created’ Madonna is today housed in the Basilica Cathedral of Taormina. Found inside an ancient well, probably put there to save it from the repeated invasions and plundering in Arab times, tradition says that it was perhaps put there by the angels. From this comes the name “not created”, meaning not created by human hands. It is a pallet oil painting covered with a layer of silver and hard stone. Of clear Byzantine era, the painting was named St. Mary by the Greeks. THE FOUNTAIN OF THE CATHEDRAL SQUARE In clear Baroque style, the fountain was built in 1635. It is made of hard Taormina rock and sits on a base with three concentric steps. At a symmetrical distance from the four sides, there are small columns on which stand basins surmounted by mythological ponies and from whose mouths flows water. On the east of the base, the large fountain has a fourth basin of larger dimensions and now in disuse, but in ancient times was used as a water trough for animals. At the centre of the base there is another smaller, octagonal one on which four cherubs rest. Two of these on the eastern side support two small cherubs which form the base of an octagonal basin decorated with three seals showing their heads and tails. From the centre of the basin, three mythological figures stand out which seem to be Newts with their arms crossed on their heads as a support for a smaller circular basin which is decorated in low-relief. In the centre there is a spherical base surmounted by a basket of fruit with the coat of arms of Taormina on it – this should be a centaur but here it is a female centaur which actually has two feet. IL SAN DOMENICO The Domenican monastery, today the San Domenico Hotel, was the third monastery to be created in Taormina. Its creation, like its history, is linked to the Domenican friar Damiano Rosso, a descendant of the Altavilla family and Prince of Cerami who, on becoming a friar, donated all his worldly goods to the Domenican religious order in 1430. Therefore his ancient residence in Taormina became a Domenican monastery. The San Domenico was originally the first (perhaps also the only) palace-castle which existed in Taormina in medieval times. After some centuries, the property returned to the ownership of the heirs of Damiano Rosso who made it into a hotel. The only part which remained open to the cult was the chapel of the ex-monastery, only to be destroyed by bombardments on 9th July 1943. On its remains today is the congress room of the hotel with the remains of the minor altars stills preserved there today. The bombardment did not affect most of the rest of the hotel and its 50 friars cells were transformed into very luxurious bedrooms. The beautiful cloister and the splendid park which overlooks the sea with Etna opposite, is the most enchanting part of the hotel, which had a second wing added in the thirties, fitting in harmoniously with the existing architecture rich in art treasures, sacred furnishings and antique fine art by well-known authors. THE CLOCK TOWER Functioning as an access gateway to the part of the city that historians define “4th century district”. Dating back to the 12th century, the tower was burned to the ground during the invasion of 1676 by the French and Louis 14th. That which we admire today is just a reconstruction of 1679 by the people of Taormina who added the great clock, from which it gets its name today. However, recent studies have established that the great square blocks of Taormina stone in the foundations of the tower have an earlier date than the first construction of the tower. It is therefore easily presumed that the first Tower was sited on the remains of a more ancient defensive wall construction which could be dated back to the origins of the city and therefore around the 4th century B.C. THE PUBLIC GARDENS The Public Gardens, named after the Duke of Cesarò, deputy in the period of the constitution of the electoral college of Taormina, were donated by the Cacciola-Trevelyan family, at the end of the 20s. Inside, among thick vegetation, typically Mediterranean with untangled hedges and flower beds, the cobblestone paths longitudinally connect the almost three hectares of park. Among its valuable contents, some of which are rare and exceptionally beautiful, snakes a pathway of olive trees which is a memorial to fallen soldiers of the various wars. Characteristic are the little Arabesque towers in Chinese pagoda style made of brick and surrounded by lava pumice stone, which were the idea of Florence Trevelyan, an English aristocrat and enthusiastic ornithologist, who enjoyed studying the birds from them. There are some gun emplacement relics of the two world wars and a memorial to the fallen of all wars at the edge of the natural “Teatro di Verzura”. THE ARAB NECROPOLIS A few hundred metres from the northern gateway of the city, along the county road which goes from Cape Taormina to the town centre, the Arab necropolis (which many define as Byzantine) is one of the few testimonials of “everyday life” of that period. It is presumed to have been created between the 10th and 11th centuries. The necropolis is classed as Columbarium, that is to say symmetrical cells of tombs positioned one on another. What can be seen today are the remains of a larger structure which extended towards the north-east of the town, sited between the actual remains and the church of San Pietro below, outside of the city walls. PORTA MESSINA AND PORTA CATANIA In ancient times, Taormina was defended by a ring of surrounding wall and triple system of fortification which started on the north side, in a north-eastern direction on the Messina side and finishing on the west side, with a tract on the Catania side. Traces of these walls are still visible today, not only at the Clock Tower in the centre of the town, but also on the two outer sides of the town where the two access gateways are. These are Porta Messina and Porta Catania as they are commonly called. Renovated at the beginning of the last century, Porta Messina Gateway took the name of Porta Ferdinanda when it was inaugurated in 1808 by Ferdinando IV of Borbone. This event is recorded on a plaque at the top of the Porta Messina Gateway arch. Instead, Porta Catania Gateway is the result of various changes and renovations, the last of which was carried out in 1440 by the Aragonesi whose coat of arms, sculpted in relief, is still visible above that of the town in the centre top of the Gateway. THE GYMNASIUM (‘NAUMACHIA’) The Gymnasium is situated in an area of Taormina called Giardinazzo, where the remains of the so-called ‘Naumachi’ can still be seen today. The “Gymnasium” was generally a construction with a rectangular perimeter, its four sides surrounded by an arch supported by columns. At the centre was the area for the games and gymnastic exercises. In fact, it was here that the young people were cultivated in a civil, religious and practical sense and athletes were produced in gymnasiums who were able to participate in the Olympic Games. The surviving wall of the ancient Gymnasium in Taormina rests on a double row of square Taormina stone steps, along all its length, which forms the base of the wall. These steps have 18 niche recesses with equilateral arches and another 18 smaller niche recesses of rectangular shape. The name ‘Naumachia’, (from Greek: naval battle) and improperly given to these remains, almost certainly derives from the fact that above the surviving wall there is a large well which was used both for the water requirements of the Gymnasium and as a water reserve for the entire city.
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