Taormina Savoca Castelmola: one day tour

Savoca is a village perched on a rocky hill. It is also named “country of seven faces” and “fertile land of ingenious minds”. City of art, since 2008 it is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The main places of interest are the Convento dei Cappuccini, where there is a crypt made in the seventeenth century where the embalmed bodies of some notable people from the past are kept and exposed, and the Palazzo Trimarchi, once residence of the wealthy family of the same name, whose ground floor hosts the famous Bar Vitelli, set of a scene of the movie “The Godfather” (1972) by Francis Ford Coppola.

Savoca preserves, in its historic center, the ruins of an ancient medieval synagogue (the Jewish community was present in the territory until 1492). The ruins of the synagogue of the Jews of Savoca are pretty close to the Church of San Michele, right at the feet of the hill where the Pentefur Castle stands.

Taormina is a famous tourist town, destination of artists, writers and intellectuals (including Goethe and Truman Capote) too. Particularly loved not only for landscape beauty and fantastic scenery, but also for its “sweet life”, permissiveness and transgression. Corso Umberto, the main boulevard, houses many shops and boutiques.

The ancient theater of Taormina is probably of Hellenistic origin and, after centuries of decadence, since the 1950s it has been used as an open-air theater to host theater performances, concerts, David di Donatello’s award ceremonies and symphonic concerts, from the Opera to the ballet. Since 1983, it is home to Taormina Arte, a show event that takes place all year round in summer, and Taormina Film Fest. The theater was also home to some footage of “The Goddess”, a Woody Allen’s movie.

Castelmola is another small town among the most beautiful villages in Italy and it is located on the top of a rocky hill above Taormina. The Castle of Mola dates back to Norman times and for centuries it was a fortress of the Peloritan defensive line made up of the mansions of Milazzo, Ficarra, Tripi, Castroreale, Castiglione and Francavilla; It has always been representing the neuralgic point to be taken over by the various conquerors in order to take control of the territory .

The famous central square has a mosaic floor in lava stone and from there you can admire the Ionian coast. Another tourist attraction is Bar Turrisi, a very bizarre spot in Castelmola!

During the Christmas period, through the close collaboration between institutions, traders and volunteer citizens, Nativity cribs are set up all over the town, hosting the most varied artistic creations made with different materials.