Taormina and surroundings [antikvár]

PREFACEThe aim of this guide-book is to show you the most interesting featu-res of Taormina and the nearby towns such as Castel Mola, Giardini and the ruins of Naxos, Letoianni, Forza d'Agro, Capo S. Alessio, Randazzo. We shall at least mention some other places that are re-nowned for their naturai beauties and landscapes. Lastly, we shall speak also about Mt. Etna.Taormina lies on the slopes of Mt. Tauro at about 200 metres above sea-level and is the charming queen of the promontory j Utting out on the Ionian Sea, an enchanted place, indeed, a dreamy quiet town. With its numberless terraces facing the sea, Taormina is simple and aristocratie, intimate and pleasant, a monument of ancient prosperi-ties, a witness of eternai naturai beauties. We have the remains of its glorious past that remind us of the best moments of its history, but we appreciate also its world-wide fame as an elegant tourist resort. The town is animated by the numberless colours of its flowers that fili its quiet alleys and by the reflections of the chromium-plated "Pupi" (puppets) Coming from chaotic bazars. Here the sun always shines. And it is true, if we believe in statistics. As a matter of fact, the percentage of clear days in a year is very high. Being right in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, this place affords a very mild climate. Smiling Taormina opens on to the sea, lying as it is on the last off shoots of Peloritani Mountains that, covered with a luxuriant végétation, reach the Ionian Sea, to the North of the mouth of the Alcantara (the river that separates it from the cone of Mt. Etna).The first Greek settlers landed here. They found here a nature much more generous than elsewhere and this place became the eradle of our western civilization. For this particular reason we shall speak of the Greek age in detail, when dealing with Taormina's history. It was one of the most fortunate moments of the life of this town and the surrounding areas. The importance of that period is incomparable and is worthy of our attention. But another period, too, is worth mentioning, at least for what stili remains of it in Taormina's buildings and town-planning, namely the period of the Norman, Swa-bian and Aragonese dominations.HISTORYThe position of Sicily, situated just in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, has always constituted a decisive factor in the history of this island. Being the meeting point of yarious traffics, it was influenced by various civilizations and populations. And it was par-ticularly the coast of the eastern side of Sicily, just where Taormina lies, that was more open to such influences than the other areas of the island.Undoubtedly it seems that the insularity of this région did not favour human Settlements. Till the neolithic âge, the traces of human Settlements along the coast are very rare. Then a population of shepherds and farmes, the Sicans, came and settled here, bringing witn them the influence of the Mésopotamie civilization in the eastern régions of the island, closer to the mainland. And it was here that later, around the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. the more developed Sicu-lians introduced the horse and the copper. They developed rapidly, thanks mainly to the Aegean civilization, spread b'y the Phoenicians.