Taormina Tourist

On Thursday, we flew from Milan to Sicily, a short 1 ½ hour flight. We landed in Catania Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) – the largest airport in Sicily. It’s located on the east coast of the island, near the city center of Catania.

As we neared the island, a thick white blanket of clouds obscured everything below, with only the peak of Mount Etna—the highest point in Sicily—rising above them.

For a few minutes, as our plane descended beneath the clouds, the Sicilian landscape near Catania came into view. The area was green and cultivated, with every inch dedicated to agriculture or residential use.

After a few unexpected hiccups while picking up our rental car—including discovering that Sicilian law requires snow chains in March for mountain driving (which we had to purchase) and struggling to change the car’s screen interface from Danish to English—we finally left the airport and made our way north to Taormina, a drive of about an hour.

Taormina is a picturesque hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily, overlooking the Ionian Sea. Known for its stunning views, charming medieval streets, it is a popular tourist destination. It is also known as the stunning filming location of the second season of the TV-series White Lotus.

To reach Taormina from the airport, we drove on the main highway. Our first impression of Sicily, in a word, was haphazard—everything felt a bit wild and disarranged, the complete opposite of the manicured look of the UK. Once we left the highway, the road wound up the hillside in a series of crazy U-turns, offering stunning views along the way.

Our apartment was situated right at the entrance to Taormina’s historic district.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the town. The historic district today is mostly a pedestrian walkway, with the main street, Corso Umberto I, running from north to south. At the northern end, adjacent to our apartment, was the Porta Messina gate, and at the southern end stood the Porta Catania gate. Corso Umberto I stretches approximately one kilometer between these two gates, and is filled with boutique clothing shops, tourist stores, and restaurants.

As you walk along Corso Umberto I, you pass through three plazas, or piazzas as they are called in Italy. The first, Piazza Victor Emmanuel II, is named after the first king of united Italy. As I mentioned in a previous blog, almost every Italian town has a street, piazza or statue to honor him. This small piazza intersects with the old town’s main east-west road, Via Teatro Greco, which leads to the Ancient Theater of Taormina (Teatro Antico di Taormina), the town’s most iconic landmark.

The Teatro Antico di Taormina is one of the best-preserved ancient theaters in the world. Originally built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BCE and later expanded by the Romans, it could accommodate up to 5,400 spectators. Perched on a hillside, it is renowned for its breathtaking views of the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna—though during our visit, rain and clouds obscured the scenery. Despite the weather, it was undeniably impressive.

Continuing along Corso Umberto I Street, you reach the next piazza, Piazza IX Aprile, the main square of Taormino. The square was named after the 9th of April 1860, when mass in the Taormina cathedral was interrupted to announce that Giuseppe Garibaldi had landed on the island to begin his conquest of Sicily and make it part of Italy. While Victor Emmanuel II was the first king of united Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi was the military leader who made it happen. However, the news was false. Garibaldi only landed in Sicily one month later, in May 1860. Despite the historical inaccuracy, the square continues to bear the mistaken date in its name.

Piazza IX Aprile is Taormina’s most famous and picturesque square, usually offering stunning panoramic views of the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna. Unfortunately, with the cloudy, rainy weather Mount Etna never came into view. Surrounding the black-and-white checkerboard pavement of the square, is the Church of San Giuseppe, with its Baroque façade, and the Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower), which marks the division between Taormina’s medieval and more modern sections.

Once you walk through the Clock Tower, continuing on Corso Umberto I Street, you reach Piazza Duomo, located in front of the town’s main cathedral, the Duomo di Taormina.

The square features a striking Baroque-style fountain, built in 1635, topped with a statue of Taormina’s symbol—a crowned centaur holding a globe and a scepter. Unlike traditional centaurs, this one has distinctly human-like features and only two legs instead of four.

Between the cathedral and the Catania gate is the location of the former Jewish quarter. On Friday, we spent most of our time there, exploring the narrow alleyways looking for remnants of the town’s Jewish past. What we saw, including one surprise find, will be the subject of my next blog.

Located away from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist area, are the Public Gardens of Taormina, a beautiful public park offering lush greenery, walking paths, and panoramic views. The gardens were created in the late 19th century by Florence Trevelyan, a Scottish noblewoman who moved to Taormina. She designed the gardens in a romantic English style, blending exotic plants, Mediterranean flora, and whimsical structures she called Victorian Follies—small, decorative pavilions that reminded us of Esher paintings. Originally part of her private estate, the gardens were later donated to the town and turned into a public park.

While walking throughout Taormina, I noticed several recurring themes, the most prominent being the widespread presence of ceramic heads depicting a man and a woman. These colorful, hand-painted vases are known as “Teste di Moro” (Moorish Heads).

According to legend, a beautiful young Sicilian woman was tending to her plants on her balcony when a Moorish merchant passed by and fell in love with her. The two began a passionate affair, but she later discovered that he was married and had a family back in his homeland. Enraged and heartbroken, she killed him in his sleep, severed his head, and used it as a planter to grow basil. The plant flourished, drawing the envy of her neighbors, who then started crafting similar ceramic head planters.

Today, Teste di Moro are often displayed on balconies, in gardens, and in homes, usually in pairs—one male, one female—symbolizing love, fertility, and good fortune.

Another prevalent theme is the pinecone, often found alongside the Teste di Moro. In Sicily, the pinecone symbolizes eternal life, renewal, and prosperity, with ceramic versions often placed at home entrances to bring good fortune and ward off negativity. It also represents fertility, spiritual enlightenment, and divine wisdom, making it a popular gift for weddings and special occasions.

Taormina’s shops are filled with ceramic lemon decorations, lemon-scented soaps, lemon-flavored treats, tableware and linens adorned with lemon motifs, and even a lemon eau de cologne. Sicily’s hot sunny days and cool nights, combined with the rich volcanic soil around Mount Etna, create perfect conditions for growing exceptionally flavorful lemons.

The one popular tourist attraction in Taormina that we did not do is the cable car which connects the historic district to the beach below. The ride takes about 5 minutes one-way and offers stunning views. Unfortunately, the cable car has been closed for maintenance since January.

Another thing I did not do in Taormina is eat the typical breakfast – a granita and brioche. Granita is shaved ice that comes in many flavors and is served in an ice cream sundae dish. Classic flavors include lemon, almond, coffee, pistachio, and mulberry. For some flavors, such as coffee or almond, you can also add a dollop of sweet cream on top. The granita is usually eaten together with soft, slightly sweet brioche bun. Locals dip the brioche into the granita.

In the cold, rainy weather, shaved ice did not seem appealing to me, even though plenty of other people were enjoying their granita. The weather, however, did not stop me from trying a cannolo. A cannolo is a traditional Sicilian pastry consisting of a crispy, fried pastry shell filled with a sweet, creamy ricotta-based filling. They are often garnished with chopped pistachios, candied fruit, or chocolate at the ends.

D’amore pastry shop, right up the street from our apartment, supposedly has the best cannoli in Taormina. The pastry chef adds chopped pistachios and candied orange pieces to the filling.

What is the difference between cannolo or cannoli? Cannolo is just one, the singular, and cannoli is the plural version of the word. In Taormina, I had one cannolo, by the end of the trip, I hope to have had many cannoli.