Hello friends, a bit carelessly, I realised that I had forgotten to post two places I visited in Taormina and that I think it is right to bring here in this community precisely because they are two interesting places that should not be missed if you intend to visit Taormina and Sicily
the first place I recommend is the villa comunale the park and there you have the public gardens of Taormina, there is a beautiful terrace overlooking the Ionian coast .
the history of this park is linked to a Scottish lady who practically moved to Taormina in the late 1970s to live there.
Basically, this lady bought that piece of land that had previously been used for agricultural production, and in about thirty years transformed it into a park inspired not only by the local nature but also brought in exotic species because she had a specialisation in botany.
This tradition continued with her husband after her death and also by relatives, but eventually in 1924 all this park and the villa itself came under the control of the Municipality of Taormina.
the public park is practically always open until midnight in summer and until 8 p.m. in winter admission is, of course, completely free, as it is municipal property.
I have to say from my own experience that I was very impressed by the care and cleanliness of this park, something not taken for granted as I am well aware in Sicily unfortunately, and there were even several benches where you could rest and even a beautiful playground for the little ones.
The other place I forgot to tell you about is the beautiful Taormina cathedral, which is dedicated to St Nicholas of Bari and is located right in the centre of the old town of Taormina in Piazza Duomo.
The first impact I had with this church is the fact that its exterior is not so beautiful, because it looks more like a fortress than a church and you can see that it was built with large blocks of stone probably coming from the quarries of Syracuse.
The interior of the church is also very simple because it is quite bare of any decoration, but this is almost normal because it dates back to the 13th century anyway.
Unfortunately, like many ancient monuments at the entrance, it has stairs and this can create problems for those with mobility problems.
I hope, as usual, that you have found the information I have given you interesting, but I especially hope you have the opportunity to visit Taormina because it is definitely worth it, I can assure you.