Seaside and mountain villages of Sicily

Hanging flower pots catch my eye in Taormina, a favorite tourist destination in Sicily.

Despite spending a full month in Sicily, we visit only a few of the legendary villages on the island. But what a few they are! I've chosen three to describe in this blog post: Cefalù, Noto, and Taormina.

Cefalù

No one knows why the two towers of Cefalù's cathedral don't match.
The basilica is one of Sicily's most famous Norman structures. 

Sheltered between a high rocky crag and the Mediterranean Sea on Sicily's northern coast is the beautiful village of Cefalù. In addition to finding the island's third most significant Norman cathedral here, we are enchanted by the narrow winding streets and breathtaking ocean views.

We arrive mid-morning by train from Palermo, about an hour and 20 minutes away. After a stroll down the hill from the station, we stop for a coffee in Piazza Duomo before visiting the cathedral, a structure that dominates the small village. It was built between 1131 and 1240 by order of King Roger II.

The ruins of a castle, probably Byzantine, sits atop a cliff overlooking Cefalù.

We consider walking to the top of La Rocca to visit the prehistoric sanctuary known as Tempio di Diana. (It isn't really a temple of Diana, but misnomers such as this tend to stick here.) We climb high enough to enjoy the view, but our growling stomachs urge us back to town in search of lunch.

Built over the River Cefalino, this Lavatotio served as Cefalù's
laundry wash house from medieval times into the 20th century.

After popping inside Lavatoio, a medieval wash house where people washed clothes in a river allegedly formed by the tears of a mourning nymph*, we enjoy a fine lunch at a restaurant on Via Vittorio Emanuele, the street that runs along the seafront.

*Thanks to Atlas Obscura for its poetic description of Lavatoio Medievale in Cefalù.

Taormina

From a plaza in Taormina, we pause to admire the Ionian Sea. 

Among the famous writers who have fallen in love with Taormina are Guy de Maupassant, Ernest Hemingway, Edmondo De Amicis, D. H. Lawrence, and Oscar Wilde. It isn't hard to see why, nor is it difficult to understand why this magnificent cliff-side village on Sicily's northeastern coast is the island's most popular — and romantic — destination.

The bus ride up the mountain to Taormina includes gaspingly beautiful views over the sparkling sea and scary switchbacks along a road dotted with grand villas. One could opt to take the train here, but the station is at sea level and requires either a hardy hike up the mountain or a ride on the cable car.

You don't need to be a beautiful celebrity, but expect to
spend a pretty penny at the Caffè Wunderbar in Taormina.

The town's main street, Corso Umberto I, runs between two ancient gates, the Porta Messina and the Porta Catania. The street is lined with churches, souvenir shops, and pricey bars, cafes, and restaurants, the most famous of which is the Caffè Wunderbar, once the watering hole for celebrities including Greta Garbo, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Tennesse Williams, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Burton.

Mount Etna can be seen over Ken's left shoulder (your right) in Taormina.

We find a nice sandwich shop on a side street near the Greek Theatre and enjoy our lunch all'perto. (Don't use the term al fresco in Italy; here it usually refers to spending time in jail.). The Teatro Greco is one of the world's most famous Sicilian landmarks. Described by Johann Wolfgang Goethe as "a stupendous work of Art and Nature," the massive theater is, to this day, a venue for large concerts and performances.

The beautiful garden Villa Communale in Taormina contains several
pagoda-style structures, built for bird-watching.

My favorite spot in Taormina is Villa Comunale, a public garden that was given to Taormina by Florence Trevelyan, an English aristocrat. From here we can can look out on Mount Etna and walk beneath shady tropical trees.

Ken and I take a break in Taromina's Villa Communale garden.

Noto

Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi in Noto is one of around 20 churches here.

The area of southeast Sicily called Val di Noto contains some of the most beautiful Baroque architecture in the world. The area was destroyed in a 1693 earthquake and villages were rebuilt in a unique manner, as described by Joseph Farrell in "Sicily: A Cultural History":

"This Baroque "island," whatever internal variations there are, was created after a natural disaster and is the product of one culture, one spirit, one set of circumstances, and one historical age, so the planning has a harmony, unity, coherence, uniqueness, and beauty not found anywhere else in Sicily, or indeed anywhere." 

Our tour guide tells us the history of the town of Noto, as we stroll along the wide streets lined with pale yellow stone churches and palaces. The town, along with seven other villages in the area, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Balconies of the mansions in Noto reflect the grandiose tastes of those that lived here.

Prancing horses support a balcony on the Palazzo Nicolaci in Noto.

The rich men who built palaces in Noto sometimes adorned
the balconies with likenesses of themselves and their friends.

I'll include one last photo — a postscript since I didn't take it in one of the towns I've written about here. It's the view of Palermo from Monreale: Not our favorite village, but mamma mia, what a view!

This view of Palermo is from Monreale. The 11-kilometer trip between
Palermo and Monreale takes about 25 minutes by car or 90 minutes by bus.