Art Cities
Taormina, Noto, Siracusa, Caltagirone and Aidone
Art cities of eastern Sicily,
places of eternal beauty
Relais San Giuliano’s lovely location makes it easy to reach Taormina, Sicily’s chicest town, where fashion, history and splendid Ionian coast views meet, 2000 metres up on Monte Tauro.
A dip in its splendid coastal waters is a must and part of what earned Taormina the title “Pearl of the Ionian.” Isola Bella, covered in exotic Mediterranean plants, connects to the mainland by a sand strip that only appears at low tide.
However you spend your day in Taormina, Syracuse, Noto or the other art cities, our concierge team will happily give you everything you need to make it unforgettable.
Taormina "Pearl of the Ionian"
From the late 1700s, Taormina was a key stop on the Grand Tour. Goethe, in his “Italian Journey,” called it “the greatest masterpiece of art and nature.” Maupassant compared it to a painting holding everything seductive to the eyes, spirit and imagination on Earth.
Even the Greeks couldn’t ignore Taormina’s scenic power: in the 3rd century BC, they built a theatre here, on a promontory, second in size only to Syracuse’s. Its striking backdrop made it perfect for the highest level of drama and music.
Today the ancient Greek amphitheatre, with Etna and the shimmering Ionian Sea as its backdrop, hosts summer festivals, concerts and shows once again, including Taormina Arte and the Taormina Film Fest.
At Piazza del Duomo, the austere 15th-century façade of the Cathedral of San Nicola shares the spotlight with a rich baroque fountain, its raised basins topped by a statue of the crowned centauress, the city’s symbol.
For Taormina’s livelier, more fashionable side, walk Corso Umberto I, the main shopping street, lined with luxury boutiques and artisanal souvenir shops. Or wander the folkloric alleyways, stop for a lemon, almond or strawberry granita with a soft brioche and try an authentic Sicilian cannolo topped with chopped pistachios.
Noto, capital of Sicilian baroque and home of the Infiorata
Noto is a thousand-year-old UNESCO World Heritage village, the capital of Sicilian baroque. Reach it from Relais San Giuliano by following the coast south.
Walk its streets and squares, and you’re walking through centuries of history: Castelluccio peoples, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Normans, Aragonese, one after another. After the 1693 earthquake destroyed the towns of the Val di Noto, Noto rebuilt itself in an elegant, balanced baroque, lit by the sandy tones of local limestone that turn gold at sunset. Don’t miss the sumptuous façade of the Cathedral of San Nicolò and its dramatic four-flight staircase.
For a full immersion in local tradition, visit during the Infiorata in May: for three days, Noto’s main streets transform into a series of floral creations, with a new theme each year, filling the town with unforgettable scent and colour.
Syracuse, Ortigia and the Greek theatre
Syracuse is Sicily’s most beautiful Greek city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to Europe’s only wild papyrus and the oldest Greek theatre in the Western world.
History, nature, culture, evening nightlife: it’s all here and easy to reach from Relais San Giuliano.
This cradle of civilisation, birthplace of Aeschylus, Plato and Archimedes, earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005.
Most of Syracuse’s architectural beauty sits in its historic centre, one of the most distinctive in the world for its layout: a small island, Ortigia, linked to the new town by two bridges. Here, the ancient Fonte Aretusa preserves Europe’s only wild papyrus plant.
Traces of the Greek period remain in the ruins of the temple dedicated to Athena, on whose foundations the majestic, baroque-façade Cathedral now stands.
Syracuse is also famous for its Greek theatre, the oldest in the Western world and one of the largest, in the Neapolis Archaeological Park. The park also holds the curious Ear of Dionysius, an artificial limestone cave whose shape creates powerful echoes. Legend says the tyrant Dionysius built it to better hear his prisoners’ whispers.
But Syracuse is also perfect for a relaxing beach day, surrounded by the Mediterranean scrub of the Vendicari Reserve and the Plemmirio Marine Protected Area, where you can dive into rich marine biodiversity.
Caltagirone, city of ceramics
Caltagirone offers a colourful journey into Sicily’s most famous ceramics town.
Once called Urbs Gratissima, Queen of the Erei Mountains, Caltagirone crowns this inland mountain range as a late-baroque UNESCO World Heritage town, home to a long tradition of ceramic artisans.
The Greeks brought the art of ceramics here, but it was the Arabs who pushed it forward, introducing new clay techniques and the famous polychrome geometric decorations.
Caltagirone’s ceramics aren’t just art pieces or everyday objects; they colour the entire town. See it in the Church of San Pietro’s façade, its austere Gothic style brightened by polychrome majolica; in the baroque Palazzo Ventimiglia, its balcony trimmed with 18th-century ceramics; and in the dramatic staircase of Santa Maria del Monte, all 142 steps decorated with colourful geometric tiles.
The town’s Ceramics Museum, with over 2500 pieces, is the best place to trace this art from prehistory to today, and you can try it hands-on in workshops held throughout the historic centre’s many studios.
Visiting Caltagirone also means stepping into deeply felt folk traditions: nativity scenes that come alive each Christmas, depicting traditional Sicilian life through ceramic and terracotta figures; the Infiorata festival each May, turning the town’s streets into carpets of flowers; and traditional hand-painted puppet shows, still performing their chivalric adventures at the museum dedicated to them.
Aidone and the Venus of Morgantina
Aidone is a bucolic town in the Erei mountains, home to the Venus of Morgantina and one of Sicily’s last Gallo-Italic dialects. At 800 metres above sea level, it connects to Piazza Armerina and Enna through the Parco della Ronza and is easy to reach from Relais San Giuliano.
The clearest trace of the Greek presence here is the archaeological site of Morgantina.
Set on a hill at the centre of a plain inhabited since the Bronze Age, its Hellenistic-era Agora still stands out today, home to the Acropolis with its temples, the trade and public affairs area, and the theatre.
The site’s most important find is the sculpture of a goddess in marble and limestone, her body draped in a typical “wet-look” effect, her head roughly carved at the back. Long mistaken for the Venus of Morgantina, it’s now believed to represent the widespread local cult of Demeter. After a long legal battle with the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the statue came home and can now be admired in full at Aidone’s regional archaeological museum.
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