In 1734, with the Viennese peace treaty, Sicily came back to the spanish power, under the bourbon Charles III. It was so that the reign unity of Sicily and Naples was reconstitued (that is the reign of the two Sicilies) Enlightenment produced its effects in Sicily too.
In this period the pest's epidemic, that struck Messina in the 1743 AD, saved Taormina, how the licences of healthiness, released to the residents, testify.
Despite the absolute monarchy, they made reforms in each field. Particularly, they limited the feudality powers and made stop the clergy privileges. The Sant'Uffizio, notorious organ of the Inquisition, came suppressed. The juridical, philosophical and literary studies spread rapidly.
They realized in Taormina important works,among which the Messina-Catania road and the one which from the sea leads to the city (the today's Pirandello street). In 1808, Ferdinand of Bourbon, king of the two Sicilies, came to visit Taormina. To remember the event, a coat of arms of the bourbon family was placed in the upper part of Messina Gate: an eagle which feeds two eaglets.