TAORMINA CASTLE: HISTORY OF THE MANOR OF THE PEARL OF THE IONIAN SEA
Perched on Mount Tauro, 397 meters above sea level, Taormina Castle is an exquisite example of Arab-Norman architecture.
Services(5)
- Audioguide
- Historical map of the Castle
- Official ticket office
- Personalized end-of-visit parchment of “Nobilis Castrii Tauromeni”
- Toilet service
Reductions(2)
For REDUCED and FREE tickets, documentation certifying the right to use such tickets will be required. In the absence of documentation to be presented at the ticket office, it will be necessary to purchase the FULL ticket. SPECIAL PROMOTION for the online purchase of 2 full-price tickets with a 15% discount.
Reduced
2types- •EU citizens aged between 18 and 25 (the age limit is considered exceeded from the day following the completion of the 25th year of age).
- •Members of FAI
Free tickets
17types- •Visitors under the age of eighteen. Under-twelves must be accompanied by an adult
- •Disabled persons and one family member or companion who can show their membership to health and care services.
- •European Union tourist guides in the exercise of their professional activity, presenting a valid licence issued by the competent authority
- •Tour interpreters from the European Union working alongside the guide, upon presentation of a valid licence issued by the competent authority
- •Permanent staff of the Sicilian Regional Department for Cultural Heritage and Identity
- •Members of I.C.O.M. (International Council of Museums)
- •Groups of students from public and private schools in the European Union accompanied by their teachers, subject to prior booking and within the quota established by venue management
- •Students on advanced training courses at the Ministry's Schools (Central Institute for Restoration. Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Mosaic Restoration School) and courses at the Regional Centre for Planning and Restoration
- •Teachers and students enrolled in Fine Arts Academies or corresponding institutes of the European Union, by showing their enrolment certificate for the current academic year
- •Lecturers and students on degree courses, specialist degree courses or post-graduate specialisation and PhD courses in the following faculties: architecture, conservation of cultural heritage, education sciences or literature and philosophy with an archaeological or historical-artistic focus. The same benefits are due to teachers and students of corresponding universities or courses, present in the European Union States.
- •Journalists who have regularly paid their membership fees, and who present suitable documents proving their professional activity (DDG n.1109 of 7/09/2019 DG-Musei).
- •Operators of volunteer associations working at the premises through agreements with the Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity
- •Teaching staff -permanent school or with a fixed-term contract- of the Italian school, upon presentation of a suitable certificate issued by the educational institutions. The certificate is annual and valid for the academic year in progress.
- •Honorary Inspectors of Cultural Heritage in Sicily
- •Members of the military of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit
- •Members of the I.C.C.R.O.M. (International Centre for the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage)
- •Italian and foreign scholars for study or research purposes certified by Italian or foreign school or university institutions, academies, research and culture institutes as well as by the Ministry, for particular and justified needs, the Directors can allow individual subjects who request it free admission for specific periods.
Description
Also known as the Castle of Monte Tauro or Saracen Castle, it is located in an optimal position with a view of the Ionian side: to the north it is bordered by the Strait of Messina, to the south by the valley of the Alcantara river and the slopes of Etna, in the distance by the city of Catania and to the west by the Peloritani mountain system.
A strategic position, which, together with that occupied by the Ancient Theater, made it in ancient times one of the two control points of the passage routes from Catania to Messina. In Greek and Roman times the city of Taormina, called Tauromenion, had two acropolises. The first, the Tauro fortress, served as an acropolis for the city, the second, the Mola Castle, was located at a higher level, but both had their own inhabited center and fortifications. To distinguish them they were given the name of “castrum superius” and “castrum inferior”.
The Saracen invasions and the Norman intervention
The first fortified construction probably dates back to the Byzantine age, representing for a long time one of the defensive outposts in the war against the Arabs. From August 908 to 969 Taormina was subjected to three Saracen invasions that subjected the town to a terrifying siege. The last invasion by the Saracens, which took place from 964 to 969, ended with yet another capitulation and the territory of the island was divided into five administrative units governed by as many princes settled in the cities of: Taormina, Palermo, Messina, Syracuse and Trapani. The liberation of Taormina from the Saracen tyranny occurred thanks to the work of the Great Count Roger.
Since the fortress was characterised by its impregnability, the Normans, when they besieged the castle in 1079, which was under the dominion of the Saracens, adapted the strategy of Count Roger by cutting off all supplies, blocking access by sea, by closing the port, and having twenty-two wooden towers built around the city, forcing the enemy to surrender.
Architectural evolution and castellania
In 1134 the town was subjected to the monastery of San Salvatore della Placa near Francavilla di Sicilia. While during the rule of Federico II of Swabia, called “Stupor Mundi” for his intellectual, political and military qualities, the fortress was entrusted to a noble castellan.
In the 15th century, restorations and modifications to the walls of the fortress are documented.
During the Aragonese era, the castellania was entrusted, in chronological order, to the Asmundo family (under the House of Aragon), to Bernardo Orioles (at the time of Peter II of Aragon), to Riccardo Marchese (under the reign of Ludovico of Sicily and Frederick IV of Aragon), and to Federico Spadafora, who received the entrustment of the castellania and the position of governor.
In 1435 Pietro Candiani was appointed captain, under the reign of Alfonso V of Aragon, followed, in the Spanish era, by Girolamo Campolo, Antonio Balsamo and Giacomo Balsamo who took on the role of vicar general of Taormina in 1547.
The Castle has a trapezoidal shape and is equipped with a tower, once used as a lookout post. The external walls (with a height of over four meters) have been preserved, while the internal walls have almost completely collapsed.
Of the internal spaces, a cistern for collecting rainwater, an underground corridor where weapons and supplies were stored and a fan-shaped staircase that led to the keep remain visible.
The Church of the Madonna della Rocca
In the 16th century, the site was reclaimed with the construction of a place of worship dedicated to the Madonna della Rocca. Founded by Abbot Francesco Raineri with the help of the Archbishop of Messina Geronimo Venero, the church of S. Maria della Rocca was built using the cave-like shape of the pre-existing rock, so much so that part of its ceiling is made of living rock.
The church of the Madonna della Rocca is the starting point from which to begin the journey to reach the Castle. From here, in fact, it looks like a staircase carved into the rock that crosses a forepart guarded by patrol walkways before reaching the door.
