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| TAORMINA
& SICILY Our
school is located in the beautiful town of Taormina, an old hilltop town
full of history and culture and by the sea. (Map
of Taormina PDF - 301Kb).
Taormina
is famous for its beauty, its incredible storia and architettura, as
well as for its reputation in welcoming travellers. Taormina
is perfectly situated to offer students easy access to the beautiful
and historically important treasures
of Sicily.
The città of Taormina plays a fundamental role as one of the most important archaeological locations in Italy. In fact, the Greeks, fathers of Italian and European culture, settled their first colony in Italy exactly here in the Bay of Naxos, in 735 bc.. Taormina is also home to one of the most famosi Greek Theatres in the world. Here, in summertime the main events of the International Film, Music, Dance and Theatre Festival of “Taormina Arte” take place. Along
with the different dominations that conquered Sicily, many important
monuments and buildings were built in Taormina by The Greeks, the
Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Swebians, the Normans, the
Spanish, the French, and the entire XIX European aristocracy have
all left their “footprints”, in Taormina in the form of
beautiful buildings, monuments, churches, villas, parks and castles.
The
town is like a treasure chest of history: walking along its main
street, Corso Umberto, and the maze of narrow staircased streets and
small beautiful squares, you find Theatres and Gymnasium from the
Greek Age, Odeon and Baths from the Roman Age, beautiful buildings
in which the Arab and the Norman cultures melt together in a
memorable sense of bellezza,
traces of the Byzantine domination and beautiful villas which
belonged to the European aristocracy in the XVIII and XIX centuries,
all in the context of a small town on top of the hill of Monte Tauro,
overlooking the coastline of the Ionian Sea, 2 minutes away from the
beach by cable car. Take
a virtual
tour of Taormina visiting.
And
learn more about the history, the monuments and the views of our
town. Or have a look at the foto. For
walkers, the surroundings of Taormina are also a beautiful paradiso.
There are several trails leading down to the sea and up to the
picturesque village of Castelmola, and to the top of the highest
mountain in the area, Monte Venere, where one of the three Greek
temples of Venus is rumoured to have existed. In
addition to our Italian
courses,
culture
courses
and
extra
courses,
Taormina offers many opportunità
in the way of hotels, restaurants, bars, discos, entertainment and
sports: windsurfing, diving, snorkelling, mountain-biking,
hill-climbing, rafting, tennis and golf. And during
summertime there are concerts and ballets, cinema and theatre during
the “International
Festival of Taormina Arte”. And
Taormina can be the base for a more expansive tour of Sicily. Most
people do not seem to realize how much Sicily has to offer. With its
sun, its beige pebble and sandy beaches, its warm aqua blue water,
its snow-topped volcano Mount Etna, its forests and rolling
golden hills, Sicily has always been at the centre of the
Mediterranean Sea, and therefore, it has always been at the centre
of Mediterranean history. Take a virtual tour of Sicily and learn more about the history, the monuments and the views of our region. In,
1786, J.W. Goethe, in his “Italienische Reise” (Flight to Italy),
wrote „Without Sicily, Italy cannot be fully understood. It is
here one finds the key to all things" A quick
look into the history of Sicily will help us understand why.
Syracuse ruled over the Mediterranean Sea and over Italy up to
Tuscany, influencing first the Etruscans
and then the
Roman culture. It was so powerful in the Mediterranean Sea that
Athens was obliged to defend its supremacy in the Greek world in
many different wars. Many of the legende described in
Homer’s Odyssey take
place in Sicily, between the Aeolian Islands and the volcano, Mount
Etna. Agrigento, with its magnificent temples, was described by Pyndar
as “The most beautiful town for mortals”. From among many cities:
Catania gave birth to Caronda, the first man in the world who
understood the importance of having law in a written form to
guarantee democracy; Palermo, where the Arabs left beautiful traces
of their vast knowledge in science and architecture and where the
Arab culture mixed with the German culture of the court of Frederick
II of Swabia leaving beautiful palaces,
churches and chapels with breathtaking mosaics and columns. In the
Fine Arts Sicily’s contribution has been enormous. Since the
Middle Ages, when the language and the poesia of the court of
Federico II was about to become the national language, before Dante
and his magnificent Comedy put an end to the controversy. Sicily has
contributed 2 Nobel prizes in literature: Quasimodo and Pirandello.
Most of the school of literary
realism was Sicilian: Verga, Capuana, Rosso di San Secondo. And
still in the contemporary scenario Sciascia, Bufalino, Consolo, and
Camilleri are best sellers. In
music, from the old cantastorie travelling around the island
singing the stories of French paladins to XIX century when Vincenzo
Bellini delighted European royal courts with his Norma. And in pop
music nowadays with Franco Battiato and Carmen Consoli, Mario Venuti
and Denovo. In
paintings and sculpture, from Antonello di Messina to Renato Guttuso. In
fashion, from Mariella Ferrera to Dolce & Gabbana. And in
cooking & wine: from pasta alle sarde to caponatina, from
cannoli to pasta reale, from Marsala to Malvasia. Of
course, the entire region is also known worldwide for its
traditional food and its wine. Taormina
is perfectly situated to offer Italian language students easy access
to the beautiful and historically important treasures of Sicily: the
right place for combining study and holidays. For other information about Taormina , please visit
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