fiogf49gjkf0d THE HOTEL IS SITUATED ABOUT 38 S FROM TAORMINA,
PEARL OF SICILY AND FAVORITE DESTINATION OF
INTERNATIONAL TOURISM.
HUGGING THE WALLS OF ITS ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE,
ITS MOST FAMOUS MONUMENT, THE TOWN, ITS
MAGNIFICENT SITE - A VAST TERRACE ON A CRAG
PLUNGING DOWN TO THE SEA - HAS BEEN INHABITED
SINCE MOST ANCIENT TIMES, PROBABLY IT WAS FOUNDED
IN 403 BC BY EXILES FROM NEARBY NAXOS, - THE
OLDEST OF THE GREEK COLONIES IN SICILY, FOUNDED
IN 734 BC BY THE CHALCIDIANS OF EUBEA -, AND
CALLED TAUROMENION FROM THE NAME OF THE MOUNT
THAT OVERLOOKS IT.
DOMINATED BY THE ROMANS, AN EPISCOPACY IN
BYZANTINE TIMES, STRENGTHENED BY THE ARABS,
ENLARGED AND TRANSFORMED FINALLY BY THE NORMANS,
ARAGONESE AND BOURBONS, TAORMINA STILL PRESERVES
EVIDENCE OF ITS ILLUSTRIOUS PAST INCLUDING THE
UNFORGETTABLE HISTORIC CENTER, ITS AIR
PERENNIALLY CHARGED WITH THE INTENSE SCENT OF
JASMINE, THE MASSIVE FEUDAL PALACES, THE TOWERS
WITH BATTLEMENTS, THE ANCIENT MONASTERIES AND
CHURCHES.
THE FORTUNATE COMBINATION OF EXTREMELY DIFFERING
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, THE CONTINUOUS CHANGE OF
SHAPES AND STYLES, CREATE THE FASCINATING
ATTRACTION OF A PLACE THAT HAS CHARMED VISITORS
FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR CENTURIES, AND THAT
IN PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, ENGRAVINGS AND STUDIES
HAS ALWAYS BEEN REPRESENTED AS AN EARTHLY EDEN.
THE HOTEL IS ABOUT 75 KM N FROM SYRACUSE, CITY OF
PAPYRI AND THE ARETHUSA FOUNTAIN, TAKES ITS NAME
FROM THE NEARBY SYRAKA SWAMP - WAS DEFINED BY
CICERO AS *GRAECARUM NOBILISSIMA ET PULCHERRIMA*,
THE NOBLEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THE GREEK
COLONIES.
THE CITY ENJOYS AN ENVIABLE GEOGRAPHIC POSITION,
SITUATED AS IT IS IN THE HEART OF AN AMAZINGLY
BEAUTIFUL ANCHORAGE.
AS POWERFUL AND FAMOUS AS ATHENS AND ROME IN THE
ANCIENT WORLD, NOWADAYS A MODERN, DYNAMIC CITY,
SYRACUSE IS BLESSED WITH A LARGE NATURAL PORT IN
WHICH THE ISLET OF ORTYGIA LIES, THE SEAT OF
REMOTE SETTLEMENTS DATING FROM THE FOURTEENTH
CENTURY BC AND THE HEART OF THE ANCIENT GREEK
COLONY FOUNDED IN 734 BC BY A GROUP OF
CORINTHIANS LED BY ARCHIA.
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY BC UNDER THE TYRANT GELON,
IN THE FIFTH-FOURTH CENTURY UNDER DIONYSIUS I, IN
THE THIRD UNDER AGATHOCLES THE CITY ENJOYED RAPID
EXPANSION THE QUARTERS OF ACRADINA, TYCHE AND
NEAPOLI WERE FOUNDED, MAJESTIC TEMPLES, SUCH AS
THOSE TO ATHENA, APOLLO AND ZEUS WERE BUILT, THE
PENTAPOLIS WAS BUILT, AND THE CITY BECAME ONE OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL AND CULTURAL POLES
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
CONQUERED BY THE ROMANS IN 212 BC, DESPITE THE
STRENUOUS DEFENCE ORGANIZED BY THE GENIUS OF
ARCHIMEDES, NOBLE SON OF SYRACUSE, THE CITY
BECAME A FERVENT CHRISTIAN CENTRE IN THE FIRST
CENTURIES OF THE EMPIRE, AS THE EXTENSIVE
CATACOMBS AND EARLY-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES TESTIFY.
THEN IT BECAME THE CAPITAL OF THE EASTERN EMPIRE
UNDER BYZANTINE RULE, BEFORE PASSING UNDER
ARABIAN DOMINATION.
FLOURISHING ONCE MORE UNDER THE NORMANS, SEVERELY
SCARRED BY THE 1693 EARTHQUAKE, SYRACUSE, ITS
URBAN FABRIC ACQUIRING A BAROQUE ASPECT WITH THE
SUBSEQUENT REBUILDING, STILL PRESERVES CONSISTENT
VESTIGES OF ITS ILLUSTRIOUS PAST, INCLUDING THE
GREEK THEATRE, ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE, STONE QUARRY,
CATACOMBS OF S. GIOVANNI, MANIACE CASTLE AND THE
DUOMO.
FINALLY, THE THERMAL BATHS AT ACIREALE, ARE NOT
FAR AWAY NOR IS THE GOLF COURSE AT CASTIGLIONE DI
SICILIA.
|
