Bed and Breakfast in Giardini Naxos
Porta del Vento
CIR B&B: 19083032C100050
The Bed & Breakfast Porta del Vento (meaning “the gate of winds”) is set in one of the most beautiful places in the world, that is, the coast at the foot of Taormina’s hill, surrounded by citrus orchards and flourishing Mediterranean flora.
The elegant name of our B&B is the Italian translation of the Arabic words “Bab al-Gerib”, an homage both to the Arabian rule which, among so many, made these charming places historically precious, and to the lovely sea breezes that blow from sea to land during the day and from land to sea during the night.
The house has been recently restored. It is set in central Giardini Naxos. The town was the first Greek colony in Sicily and it is now a very rich archaeological site floating between myth and history; it is set between Catania and Messina (50 Km away from the former, 48 Km away from the latter) and it is about 55 Km from Catania’s international airport Fontanarossa Vincenzo Bellini.
Set in a naturalistic, historical and heavenly scenery, among beaches and wild coasts you can admire by boat excursions…not far from famous tourist places like Taormina (just 5 km away), the Alcantara Gorges (43 km) and Isola Bella (3 km) B&B Porta del Vento faces the promenade and gives you the chance to easily reach museums, restaurants, bars and pubs, pizzerias, discos, shops, beaches…
The house has a modern and elegantly detailed façade, planned for welcoming light; it is mainly white with some cream-coloured elements and big windows. It also has a balcony and a nice garden with grass and rare plant.
Inside, it is furnished with elegance and style so as to offer, together with the friendliness of its very helpful owners, a warm welcome to those who want to spend some time in the exotic Sicilian atmosphere, in the maritime climate of one of the most admired tourist seaside places in Sicily.
GIARDINI NAXOS AND SURROUNDINGS
A brief history of Giardini Naxos, the first Greek colony of Sicily.
Then we will make a short list of tourist and naturalistic attractions that are easy to reach by car and other public transport.
At the end a gallery of images of these places described.
Giardini Naxos is unanimously identified by historians as the first Greek colony of Sicily. According to official sources, it seems to have been founded by Theocles in 735 BC. and, since a group of colonizers from the Aegean island of Naxos also participated in this foundation, it is likely that the name of the city has its origin in them. In ancient times, the small but thriving town was of significant importance for its altar to Apollo Archegetes, a symbolic destination for the Greek ambassadors leaving for the motherland.
In 433 BC, during the Peloponnesian war, Naxos sided with Athens against Syracuse which, after the Athenian defeat, razed it to the ground in 403 and, by the hand of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysus, enslaved a large part of the population.
During the Roman imperial age Naxos was reduced to a simple village that was used for the changing of horses along the road to Syracuse, while, in the Byzantine period, the bay was revalued due to the strategic proximity to Taormina from which it will reach full autonomy only on January 1, 1847, after a long period of population growth.
In August 1860, Giardini became the scene of the expedition that made the history of the unification of Italy; it was, in fact, from here that Garibaldi and his troops, having concluded their military campaign in Sicily, left for Calabria to follow up on their operation.
Although, today, the primary activity of Giardini is essentially linked to tourism, since the 19th century the territory became the protagonist of various economic initiatives, such as fishing, the processing of wrought iron, vases and tiles, agriculture and production of citrus-derived liqueurs, a valuable cultivation introduced during the Arab domination.
