Taormina's spirit rests in it extraordinary geographical location, its magnificent landscapes, its splendid climate, as well as its monuments erected by the people that settled here. The city has continually been destroyed or restored by new inhabitants lured here by its power and charm. The people that settled here, fought here and left their mark here have certainly contributed to the spirit and vitality of the city.

In the year 969 Tauromenium suffered its a terrible invasion by the Saracens. The Saracen Califf, Al-Moezz renowned for his cruelty, ordered the destruction of the city, including its monuments, as a punishment for the people of Taormina who had resisted them.

In February 1078 Count Ruggero on a quest to restore peace all over Sicily and drive out the Muslims besieged Taormina. He surrounded the city and cut off supplies. The muslims resisted for three months and finally gave in when they ran out of food and water. However peace was not yet restored as Ruggero d'Altavilla began behaving like many other invaders and became notorious for causing massacres and destruction. They first razed the city and then erected some new buildings, such as the tower that is today part of the renowned Palazzo Corvaia.

The Normans made Taormina a hub of tourism and it has been a center for congresses and meetings, for visits, acquiring all the infrastructure of a tourist resort. Even before the normans, Taormina attracted people with its natural beauty. The Siculi had chosen it as their home city. And after them the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Saracens had claimed Taormina their own owing to its beauty and climate. Taormina enjoyed a long period of prosperity under Norman Roger of Hauteville. In the following centuries, it saw the Spanish, the French and then the Bourbon occupation until the Unification of Italy.