History of Taormina

Taormina dates to around 396 BC after Dionysius I of Syracuse destroyed nearby Naxos in 403 BC and the Siculi formed a new settlement on the nearby Mount Taurus which gradually grew up into the city of Tauromenium (Ancient Greek: Ταυρομένιον) (modern Taormina).^[1]

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Taormina continued to rank as one of the more important towns of the island, following the history of Sicily in being ruled by successive foreign monarchs. After the Italian unification, Taormina began to attract well-off tourists from northern Europe.