Taormina
| Taormina | ||
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| Comune | ||
| Comune di Taormina | ||
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 Taormina
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| Coordinates: 37°51′8″N 15°17′31″E / 37.85222°N 15.29194°ECoordinates: 37°51′8″N 15°17′31″E / 37.85222°N 15.29194°E | ||
| Country | Italy | |
| Region | Sicily | |
| Province / Metropolitan city | Messina (ME) | |
| Frazioni | Mazzeo, Trappitello, Villagonia, Chianchitta, Spisone, Mazzarò | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Eligio Giardina | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 13 km2 (5 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 204 m (669 ft) | |
| Population As of March 2009 | ||
| • Total | 11,075 | |
| • Density | 850/km2 (2,200/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Taorminesi | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 98039 | |
| Dialing code | 0942 | |
| Patron saint | San Pancrazio di Taormina | |
| Saint day | 9 July | |
| Website | Official website (Italian) | |
Taormina (Sicilian: Taurmina, Greek: Ταυρομένιον Tauromenion, Latin: Tauromenium, Arabic: طبرمين Ṭabarmīn) is a small city and comune in the Metropolitan City of Messina on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches, the most famous being 'Isola Bella' are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992 on the Ionian sea and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south.
The area around Taormina was inhabited by the Siculi even before the Greeks arrived on the Sicilian coast in 734 BC to found a town called Naxos. The theory that Tauromenion was founded by colonists from Naxos is confirmed by Strabo and other ancient writers.
The new settlement seems to have risen rapidly to prosperity, and was apparently already a considerable town at the time of Timoleon's expedition in 345 BC. It was the first place in Sicily where that leader landed, having eluded the vigilance of the Carthaginians, who were guarding the Straits of Messina, and crossed direct from Rhegium (modern Reggio di Calabria) to Tauromenium. The city was at that time still under the government of Andromachus, whose mild and equitable administration is said to have presented a strong contrast with that of the despots and tyrants of the other Sicilian cities. He welcomed Timoleon with open arms, and afforded him a secure resting place until he was enabled to carry out his plans in other parts of Sicily. Andromachus was not deprived of his position of power when all the other tyrants were expelled by Timoleon, but was permitted to retain it undisturbed till his death. Little is recorded about Tauromenium for some time after this. It is probable that it passed under the authority of Agathocles, who drove the historian Timaeus into exile; and some time after this it was subject to a domestic despot of the name of Tyndarion, who was contemporary with Hicetas of Syracuse and Phintias of Agrigentum. Tyndarion was one of those who concurred in inviting Pyrrhus into Sicily (278 BC), and when that monarch landed with his army at Tauromenium, joined him with all his forces, and supported him in his march upon Syracuse. A few years later we find that Tauromenium had fallen into the power of Hieron II of Syracuse, and was employed by him as a stronghold in the war against the Mamertines. (Id. p. 497.) It was also one of the cities which was left under his dominion by the treaty concluded with him by the Romans in 263 BC.
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Wikipedia