If you’ve had enough politics, Taormina’s Villa Comunale is a lovely place to escape from the hustle and bustle of the boutiques, restaurants, and G7 conferences happening throughout town. With its lush plantings and shaded pathways, you’ll feel like you’ve escaped to a different era. There is a reason for that! Villa Comunale was given to the town by English aristocrat and nature conservationist Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), who once enjoyed bird watching from its cliff tops. Originally designed to be a private a pleasure garden, the Villa Comunale was initially called Hallington Siculo, or Sicilian Hallington; Hallington for Hallington Demesne, the town from which Trevelyan hailed in Northumberland, England and to which she never returned once she settled in Sicily in the early 1880s.
Escape from the Chatter in Taormina’s Villa Comunale
About the author
Allison Scola is founder, owner, and curator of Experience Sicily and the Cannoli Crawl. Named one of the experts for the 2019 New York Times Travel Show, Scola writes and lectures on Sicily and leads immersive tours and designs custom itineraries that delight discerning travelers. She has been featured on Rudy Maxa’s World with the Carey’s, America’s #1 Travel Radio Show and as the cannoli expert in the documentary Cannoli, Traditions Around the Table. Scola has lectured about Sicily at University of Pennsylvania, The New School, LIU Post University, Queens College, Westchester Italian Cultural Center, at high schools in the New York City metropolitan area, and at events in New York City.