Saint Pancras Church
It was built in the second part of the seventeenth century upon the ruins of a greek
temple dedicated to Jupiter. It is a baroque building, but the exterior wall keeps some
greek traces. The portal lintel and jamb are made with the stone of Taormina. The two
columns at the sides of the portal are in ionic style.
Inside there is the statue of Saint Pancras, first bishop in Sicily, decorated with pure
gold. The picture oil on canvas symbolizes the martyrdom of the bishop S. Nicone and his
99 monks killed by the arabs, while the fresco represents the Saint Pancras landing at
Naxos in 40 AD.
Saint Joseph Church
It was built in the second part of the seventeenth century. On the floor there is a big
rectangular tombstone in marble which covers the ossuary.
The fountain in the Cathedral Square
Built in 1635, it leans on a plinth of three concentric steps
made with the stone of Taormina. In the middle of the fountain, four puttos lean upon
another plinth, octagonal. In the eastern part two puttos support an octagonal basin
decorated with three seals. From the middle of this basin three mytological figures
support, with the arms crossed on the head, a littler circular basin. In the middle of
this one, a sphere is the basis of a crowned biped centaur, who, with the left hand, holds
the world and, with the right one, the sceptre, symbol of Taormina. At the four sides of
the basis four little fountains are surmounted by four sea horses, from which mouths the
water gushes out.
Humbert Avenue
By the sides of Humbert Avenue we can recognize in addiction to the Caprino Palace,
balconies, corbels, porticos, and corners with an evident baroque decorativism. |